Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

As we begin a second lockdown this week, I am starting to get yucky. That is a perfect word for how I feel, yucky. And I don’t want to keep my frustration inside because it makes me feel worse. My friend Chris sent me a picture the other day that said, “People Start To Heal The Moment They Feel Heard.” We all need to share our frustration and sadness, and poetry is one way to do it, and spoken word poetry can be even more cathartic for these turbulent times. “Poet X” is the debut novel by slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo, and explores the spiritual awakening for a young girl in Harlem when she finds her voice as a slam poet. The young girl, Xiomara Batista, struggles with the body changes and sexism that come with puberty, as well as the domination of her religious mother. When Xiomara joins a slam poetry club at school, a new door opens to a secret world that not only hears her, but also understands her. The poetry she writes in her leather-bound journal gives her strength, and new tools to understand her mother as well as her twin brother and distant father.  Residing in a world that wants to silence her, Xiomara rises above her oppressors and shouts her true feelings from the rooftops. When we are stuck, there should always be hope. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that where there is hope, there can also be growth, and a light at the end of the long tunnel. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.