Slow Kill by Jordan Charlton reveals to us the struggle of being "born brown in a country that's burned bodies like mine for intimidation." In brilliant poetic language Charlton reveals that "America is in an arms race with itself" all the "while knowing it's a slow / kill for any of us born into this system that / wasn't made for us." This powerful work echoes the past all the while hoping for a better future.

-Leah Huete de Maines, Poet-in-Residence Emerita at Northern Kentucky University