On- and offline magazine Lilith has just published Hollis’ poem ‘Just Girls‘ in the Winter 2020-2021 issue, with comments by Poetry Editor Alicia Ostriker.

You can also read the poem here on the site: Just Girls

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Lilith Poetry Editor Alicia Ostriker comments:

“The perspective of the poem is the perspective of a young girl, full of specific experience. Starting with the title, where the word “just” has the contradictory double meanings of “merely” and “righteous,” this poem about an interracial friendship is light and serious at the same time, and feels deeply truthful. Its truth includes the “backyard passages” needed to create and sustain such a friendship, and the rarely-expressed truth that white people may wish to emulate Black people. There’s also the beauty of the language and rhythms, with their brilliant alliterations, assonances and imagery. And I’m left with two questions: Is the Black girl learning from the Jewish grandfather what a “tale of escape” might mean for her? And what might “home” mean for these girls and for us?”

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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash