a storm between fingers: Selected Poems

A Storm Between Fingers is an anthology showcasing members of the international writers group Malika’s Kitchen. The collection reflects the expansive multi-cultural make up of Malika’s Kitchen, with poem rendered in variations of English that go far beyond the standard – this is poetry awash with the cadences of multilingual exposure: avery r. young evokes the language of blues when he states ‘lemon juice man marry peach cobbler woman’; Dorothea Smartt channels urban London – ‘Inside Old Street Station./I meet my Waterloo./Aubergine afro’s primed’; Sundra Lawrence is knee-deep in Sri Lanka, ‘shouting Singhalese arpeggios/ with breathless punctuation’; while Christina Santana recalls a Puerto Rican uncle self-destructing – ‘Bet a pack of cigarettes/ he couldn’t crack/ the old jibaro’s window/ three houses down.’ It is no surprise that Handmade Fire, the chapbook that precedes this collection sold 300 copies in the first week of its release – impressive in any genre, but outstanding for poetry.