Testify
Somebody help me
come forward—
to recite the blessing,
to sing the violence,
to pray tell that it’s not
real.
For this is the saddest
funeral;
these are the worst
of times
& we look so happy
dying.
come forward—
to recite the blessing,
to sing the violence,
to pray tell that it’s not
real.
For this is the saddest
funeral;
these are the worst
of times
& we look so happy
dying.
Latorial Faison is a native of Southampton County, Virginia. Her book, Mother to Son, was a finalist for the North Street Book Prize. Faison’s poem, “Mama was a Negro Spiritual” was the winner of the 2018 Tom Howard Poetry Prize and a semi-finalist for the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize. A Furious Flower Poetry Center Fellow, Faison’s poems have been selected for publication by PRAIRIE SCHOONER, Obisidian, Crab Orchard Review, About Place Journal, Blackberry, Penumbra, Artemis Journal, Stonecoast Review, RHINO, Solstice, The Southern Poets Anthology VA, Typishly Literary Magazine, The Chattahoochee Review, Black Girl Seeks, Southern Women’s Review, Chickenbones, Deep South Magazine, The Dreamers Anthology, and Kalyani Magazine.
Faison has been published alongside Dr. Cornel West, Danny Glover, Iyanla Vanzant, and Tavis Smiley in the NAACP Image Award winning book, Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from Black America. Faison has authored and edited fourteen books, including the trilogy collection, 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a graduate degree from VA TECH. Faison is a doctoral candidate an educational researcher teaching on the faculty at Virginia State University. She is married to COL Carl J. Faison; together, they have three sons.
Faison has been published alongside Dr. Cornel West, Danny Glover, Iyanla Vanzant, and Tavis Smiley in the NAACP Image Award winning book, Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from Black America. Faison has authored and edited fourteen books, including the trilogy collection, 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a graduate degree from VA TECH. Faison is a doctoral candidate an educational researcher teaching on the faculty at Virginia State University. She is married to COL Carl J. Faison; together, they have three sons.
Art: Alan Levine, Public Domain