Brionne Janae | The Common

This month, we’re pleased to bring you poems by BRIONNE JANAE, GRAY DAVIDSON CARROLL, and WILBERT TURNER III.

Table of Contents

Brionne Janae, “You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley”
Gray Davidson Carroll, “Aubade, or Ars Poetica as Men”
Wilbert Turner III, “Desperado Despair”

Author photos of Brionne Janae, Gray Davidson Carroll, and Wilbert Turner III

From left to right: Brionne Janae, Gray Davidson Carroll, and Wilbert Turner III.

YOU GOT TO WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEY
By Brionne Janae
~ after Mississippi John Hurt

and how did you go through it?
and did you keep? did you keep your mind?

you got to walk it for yourself

            and on returning what state did you find it in?
            as in what state were you in?
            were you where you left yourself?
            and who was left?
            was anyone left?
            and how sure were you that you could reach them?

MICHAEL MERCURIO interviews BRIONNE JANAE

In conversation, they go by Breezy. When Michael Mercurio and Brionne Janae spoke via Zoom, Breezy was at home in Brooklyn, and Michael was in Northampton, Massachusetts. Though Michael had known Breezy’s work for several years through their publications in Ploughshares, Waxwing, Frontier Poetry Review, The Sun, The Rumpus, and The Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, they hadn’t met until they worked together on a program for the Tell It Slant Poetry Festival, cohosted by the Faraday Publishing Company and Black Writers Read. Here, they talk about musicality, authenticity, and the importance of bringing voice to what might be left unsaid. (Please note this interview discusses childhood sexual abuse and trauma.)

All posts tagged: Brionne Janae

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The Healing Nature of Truth: An Interview with Brionne Janae

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