You Know Who You Are
Wolsak and Wynn, 2010
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You Know Who You Are reconfigures the relations between reader and speaker. It fixates on the difficulty of genuine expression, especially when set against the noise of contemporary life. Poems interrupt themselves, question themselves, compete with their own noise, and the overall effect is lively, polyphonic, and hybrid.
Love, stereotypes, and city streets fill this stunning debut from a young, black poet.
Ian Williams writes challenging poetry. His poems address the crisis of young, black masculinity in cities, paint starkly urban portraits of life and break open stereotypes. Sly humour laces the collection, and Williams is adept at playing with language to change meanings in unexpected ways. For him it's easy to turn the word go into gone.
From “What remains of us”
There are things about you I know
and do not say. True things.
Misshapen.
There are things about you I know
and do not say, We are all we have.
We have been reduced
to this. No cruelty.
Triolet for you
There is no synonym for you.
A billion names for men like me
and none for you. None. Not a few.
There is no synonym for you.
The thesaurus says, No match. Do
you mean yogi?May I use thee?
No, there is no synonym for you.
A billion names for men like me.