Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry

John Murillo’s second book is a reflective look at the legacy of institutional, accepted violence against Blacks and Latinos and the personal and societal wreckage wrought by long histories of subjugation. A sparrow trapped in a car window evokes a mother battered by a father’s fists; a workout at an iron gym recalls a long—ago mentor who pushed the speaker “to become something unbreakable.” The presence of these and poetic forbears—Gil Scott—Heron, Yusef Komunyakaa—provide a context for st...