Biography

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Virginia State University, Virginia, United States
Dr. Latorial Faison is an American poet, author & educator born & raised in Courtland, VA. She’s authored & edited 15 books, including Mother to Son, Love Poems, 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History, Vols. 1-3 & The Missed Education of the Negro. Faison has degrees in English from UVA & VA TECH and a doctoral degree from VA State University. She's been published in Obsidian, PRAIRIE SCHOONER, Artemis Journal, Penumbra, West Trestle Review, RHINO, Typishly, Southern Poetry Anthology, About Place Journal, Southern Women's Review, Deep South Magazine, Chickenbones, Typehouse & elsewhere. A 2019 Furious Flower Poetry Center fellow, Dr. Latorial Faison is a recipient of the Tom Howard Poetry Prize, finalist & semi-finalist for the CAVE CANEM, HUDSON, Wheeler & Stevenson Poetry Prizes. She's been published alongside Iyanla Vanzant, Danny Glover & Dr. Cornel West in the NAACP Image Award-winning book Keeping the Faith. Dr. Faison teaches on the faculty at Virginia State University. www.latorialfaison.com

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Daddy's English



A man of few words 
famous for calling women 
their husbands' names or nicknames 
Mrs. Cat or Mrs. Charlie

He'd call you cracker jack  
if you couldn’t be still
shot for trying to be somebody you were not
pistol if he thought you were mean as shit 

He might even call you TharlJespa, or Ettie
girl-child if you were a boy 
primping in a mirror too long


Copyrighted Feb. 2014 Latorial Faison


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This takes my heart home! Thanks!!!