Them Gone

Poetry. Singing the stories of family and fate, Akua Lezli Hope weaves love, loss, and vision into a history of more than one self, one people, to claim our survival, to thrive. Truths told and suffering faced head-on transforms to sweetness here, graced by tributes to those who saved for us what matters and have enriched this world. Says Tyehimba Jess, "Them Gone is a homegoing of homegirl reminiscence, a family reunion in verse and sound that sings a personal and public history alive and into our hands. Akua Lezli Hope's poems recount journeys from South Africa to Paris, Jamaica to New York and parts between, leading us on a Black woman's story, seasoned with poignant observation and a wise-worn search for truth. Wade into the wave of these pages and emerge transported to new, glimmered shores of universal truth!" Robert Fleming adds, "Akua Lezli Hope's voice, with its refreshing mixture of depth, insight, and elegance, breathes life into memory, roots, tradition, and the immediacy of time and place. Nothing is more important in her glistening volume, Them Gone, than family, friends, everything Gallic and Gotham, the amber glow of creativity, and the bittersweet essence of loss and grief. Whether she writes of poets Ted Joans and Jayne Cortez, artists Bob Thompson and Elizabeth Catlett, tigress Eartha Kitt or firebrand Rosa Parks, she celebrates their lives, achievements, and impact on society. Sometimes humorous, often sober, her deepening vision can be intensely philosophical. There are few poets writing today whose work is at once personal and visionary. Yes, the wait is over. It's a thrill to watch her perform her unique magic."