herb of the sun, jay délise
herb of the sun by jay délise is a Call to Action, equal parts call-out of performative activism built on the graves of wasted lives, and exploration of becoming in the shadow of continuous violence, exclusion, and trauma. In their debut chapbook, Harlem-based délise confidently leads the reader through moral outrage, despair, exhaustion, resignation, and connection with pieces that mirror the reader’s inner and outer world. Whether urging the reader to confront hard truths about politics and performance in our influencer and virality-inflicted, economy, reflect on the everyday headlines we are confronted with, or forcefully recollect of what poetry is used for, délise mirrors these inner and outer worlds beautifully. This powerful collection weaves together love letters to “nappy-haired little Black girls with too much to say” and elegies to art that is “only worthy if it is profitable, profitable if it is topical, and topical if it’s digestible” yet must be made, again and anew, so that we can survive what is happening and what is to come.
“herb of the sun presents every element of Jay Délise’s writing that makes it untouchable and unmatchable: the exacto-knife precision of naming the problem, the refusal of pretense in discussing it, and the unwillingness to absolve those responsible for the horror. But most importantly, Délise’s collection is brimming over with love and gratitude for the most overlooked, for the gentle parts of our society, for little Black girls – and for them and their young self. herb of the sun understands and encapsulates the unique grief of knowing that we all should—and can—be better; that we deserve grace while trying; and that sometimes the absurdity makes us laugh in spite of ourselves. You will be hard pressed to find a more honest, tender, unflinching collection of poems anywhere.”
—Jackie Torres, author of The Reaper: On Refusing To Be A Killjoy