Sarah E. Azizi: “I’ve written poetry since I read Amiri Baraka and June Jordan at 15 and realized poetry can do and be so many things. I’ve long had a penchant for writing from a place of optimism; Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark speaks to me therein—optimism is dangerous, hope is slippery, but that perilous slope demands my attention, regardless of what else I aim to write about. This poem teased me for nearly a year. The first half I truly experienced, and I knew there was something hidden in the experience; that walk was akin to every other walk I take, but slightly different. Somehow special. Finally, the second half of the poem arrived and said, Sar, you’re celebrating the joy of being in a state of after, full of possibility.” (web)
