Poetry has its own honest energy. Latrina Kelly-James’s first collection, Unraveling, is the revelation; and understanding of the intimate power and energy of love and it’s essential part of life’s process. In love’s overwhelming ugliness and beauty the lessons learned bring discovery and growth over and over again.
Written between 2011 and 2021, this collection of poems and short essays reflects on experiences of being Black in America. Interweaving police violence, mothering amid oppression, intimacy, and loss, Latrina invites you to fight, rest, cry, and love. From “Bad Language,” which addresses resiliency, to the cheeky “Naked” about personal discovery, Taking the L is a journey through sensuality, delight, grief, anger, and the beautiful remembrances of what’s needed to break through oppression to liberation.