Kwame Dawes is the author of fifteen books of poetry and many books of fiction, nonfiction, criticism, and drama. His work on HIV/AIDS in Jamaica has resulted in an essay for the Spring 2008 issue of VQR, the poetry collection Hope’s Hospice, and the website livehopelove.com, which won an Emmy Award for new approaches to news and documentary programming. His latest books include the poetry collection Back of Mount Peace and the novel Bivouac.
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When I hold the pigeon,
white as sun-bright,
when I feel the bone
and muscle, the delicate
lightness of feathers,
and I see the eyes
that have seen this world
grow smaller
and smaller—
eyes that have traveled
to tree-filled fields,
to places where the sun
Virginia Quarterly Review
