Line of Sight

Michele D. Gibbs

This volume collects the poetry of five previous books, two published in Detroit, one in Grenada, and two in Oaxaca, Mexico. The poetry spans three decades of political activism and passionate devotion to progressive culture. Among other major themes are the Black Arts movement in Detroit, the short-lived “revo” in Grenada and its destruction, and reflections from self-imposed exile in Oaxaca, where Gibbs now lives. The volume also includes nine color plates of artworks and two academic essays written in the 1970s.

“Revolutionary art dwells, by its nature, on edges. This is its power. What is presented as intolerable, as crushing, becomes the figure of its own transformation. . . . In Gibbs’ work, there is more than hope or faith: it is a calling into being.”—Adrienne Rich

I am a child
of rent parties
poker
and potato salad nights.
Leadbelly and Bird on the box
steaming tamales on the street
and inside, body heat
the beat of cards slapped down,
bottle caps (the pot) raked in.
a break called,
and dancing set to begin.

of hot debates
and grand reunions
when the Chicago Vets from Spain
would gather at our place
and the great Paul Robeson
would put me on his lap
and the rumble from his laugh
filled me from within.

—from “to begin”

6 x 9 inches • 136 pages • ISBN 0-9753486-0-4 • $16.95