I Am No Battlefield but a Forest of Trees Growing

by Elvis Alves

Overview

This collection is a meditation on the relationship between the life of faith and the affairs of the world—a world that appears more fragmented even with the promise of technology to bridge communities. The poems remind us of our role as agents of change and that, when we take responsibility for this role, we are practicing an effective form of spirituality.

Infused with music and a deep sense of hope, I Am No Battlefield but a Forest of Trees Growing expresses longing for a better life and world. In each poem, author Elvis Alves calls attention to the black body—a site of resistance and celebration—using the language of survival.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780999513415
Publisher:	Franciscan University Press
Publication date:	07/18/2018
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Elvis Alves was born in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is a graduate of Colgate University and Princeton Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

1 Aliens

2 Parchman Prison

3 A Idling in Clarksdale

4 Cowboy Neil @ Ground Zero

5 Stop Start

6 Who Will Survive …

7 System of Symmetry

8 Learning to Play Poker on a Native American Reservation

9 King Tut

10 Kwame

11 Invention of Mathematics

12 Walk and Don't Look Back

13 Desultory Moment of Cognition

14 I Done Got Over

15 Run Go Tell

16 Run Come See

17 Merchant Women of Ghana

18 Stars

10 Dana

20 A Fly in a Room of Flies

21 Chinese Acrobat

22 An Incident in the Mail Room

23 Kingdom Protista

24 Professor M_____

25 Gaze

26 Slapboxing with Jesus

27 The Lower Body Meridian

28 IoT

29 Return of the Prodigal Son

30 Gospel of Truth

31 Jungle Groove

32 Astral

33 For the Red Hot Chili Peppers

34 Jessie Mae Hemphill

35 Canyon Lady

36 Scratch

37 M2M

38 Twilight Zone

39 Nightlife

40 Third Eye

41 Technology (IoT)

42 Mirrors

43 James Baldwin Meets w/Elijah Muhammad and They Talk Black Power

44 White Spaces / Black Bodies

45 Jubilation

46 Ephemeral

47 Prayer

48 Easter

49 Oven

50 Sacrifice

51 Sainthood of Tupac

53 What the Future Says

54 Worship

55 Burning Spear

56 Resist

57 Gifted Child

58 Immigrants

59 Black boy in love

61 Notes

63 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

"Elvis Alves's poetry incites insight. With intensity and compassion, his language braids together threads on spirituality, race, injustice, technology, and music. Layered over a vast catalog of musical references, his bold cadence is the spear that keeps on burning." Hope suffuses his witnessing. Holler if you hear me," Alves writes, and thanks to this powerfully insistent collection, we do hear him, and we must holler."—Jessica Goodfellow, author of Whiteout (University of Alaska Press)

From the Publisher