In this book, A. Van Jordan brings us what might be his most ambitious collection to date. Part- poetry, part-drama, part-interview, this is a book that defies easy categorization and yet uses that genrelessness to get to the heart of the American tradition of state violence against Black people. The book draws on a wide set of influences including Langston Hughes, Aimé Césaire, and William Shakespeare to build one of the most thoughtful poetic investigations of race and racism I have ever read. Jordan is one of the most masterful poets working today. This book is beautiful, affecting, and important.–Nate Marshall, author of Finna