Publication

“an open letter from the boy i was to the Man you have become” published in Shenandoah

People should write more about their guilt and shame. Of course I’m talking to myself. This is something I should do and did. I didn’t always suck in middle school, I wasn’t that kid, except on this day.

It’s strange to say I am “glad” to have this poem published. But I am happy that “an open letter from the boy i was to the Man you have become” has been published by Shenandoah and will appear in the Colored page.

Can never fully make amends, but I did, repeatedly, in high school and after. But the stench still sticks.

“when asked how to avoid being seen as racist” at Identity Theory

I am happy to have my strange little sonnet “when asked how to avoid being seen as racist” published in Identity Theory .

I think sex with animals is problematic. I think racism is problematic. These two facts are at the root of this poem (which is based on a joke I was once told).

And if you thought this poem involves any drunk children having sex with goats, you should sue your elementary school, you’ll need the money to make up for your poor reading comprehension skills.

“Out of my Hands” at Zone 3

Two of my kids suffered a tragedy that changed my life. I wrote a horrible poem and a couple of songs about it that never saw the light of day.

Over a decade later, while teaching a memoir unit, I wrote a longer work about it— the first piece of prose I had written since high school. Over the next few years it saw many revisions, many suggested revisions from journal editors, many night thinking.

It’s a story I read every year in my classes. I think I’ve not cried when reading it once.

I am proud to have “Out of my Hands” appearing within the pages of Zone 3.

Two poems in Discretionary Love

Some times people ask me why I don't write love poems. I tell them all my poems are love poems, but I know what they mean. So I show them ones like these two just published in Discretionary Love and they stop asking.

sweetness

before she began, she placed the glass jar between us—
filled with fresh, golden honey—and a sizable spoon.
homemade. an amateur apiarist, she kept a ready supply.

as she began, I remembered how my mother mixed 
honey with lemon, a pinch of salt. a folk remedy 
for sore throats, the beginnings of a cold. 

when she was through, I asked why. she thought 
I meant the amber on the table, not the gaslighting
she called brutal honesty. she said it was to help me 

swallow my feelings.  

an open letter to the one who should have got away

                                            …yet, somehow—
as the scorpion thrashed her pincers
and drowned—the frog survived,
flopped ashore, croaked himself
back to life. a week, a month later,
along the same muddy shore,
another barb-tailed arachnid
implored him for safe passage
across the stream. a ride
atop his slick, perforated back.
it’s not that he doesn’t remember.
it’s just his nature. he never learns. 

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Two poems in Wizards in Space

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I'm pleased to have two poems in Issue 7 of Wizards in Space.

A love poem, “on parables” (originally published in Autofocus),

and

a school poem “when asked why I don't volunteer.”

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Featured Interview with The Main Street Rag

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Recently I had the honor of being interview by Shawn Pavey for The Main Street Rag about my first chapbook Teaching While Black, but also writing, education, creative, inspiration, race, and a host of other topics. The questions were thoughtful and timely and, as always, I tried not to bring shame on my family while answering.

An introduction to the interview by the Publisher/Managing Editor of The Main Street Rag, M. Scott Douglass:

Featured Interview

I need to give a shout out to Main Street Rag co-founder, Shawn Pavey for his wonderful interview with Matthew E. Henry and one to Matthew as well for his part in making it one of the best interviews Main Street Rag has ever published.

If that’s not enough to get you to turn the page and dive in, let me tell you two things about Teaching While Black by Mr.(Dr.) Henry. First, we knew the day it arrived for consideration that we wanted to publish it. It was a unanimous decision among all readers who just happened to read it at the same time (the wonders of Submittable). Second, as the interview will illustrate, when I read this as a manuscript, I was in the classroom. I was there. The scene was vibrant; the characters alive.

If you have not read Teaching While Black and this interview doesn’t inspire you to want to read this book, your poetic and social soul may well be lost.

The whole interview, as well as some poems from the collection, can be found in the latest edition of The Main Street Rag

A couple of pics…

“der wilde jagd” in Nombono: Speculative Poetry by BIPOC Poets

I wrote a poem about a rapture. Not The Rapture. A rapture. An imagined eschatological event where a certain class of people would be caught up, taken away from here. And there would be much rejoicing. I wrote this poem specifically for a publication and was fortunate enough to see it accepted.

“der wilde jagd” is featured in Sundress Publication’s Nombono: Speculative Poetry by BIPOC Poets edited by Aka Lezli Hope.

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"an open letter for back to school night" at Second Chance Lit

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Due to the pandemic, I was unable to read this poem to a variety of classrooms packed with parents feigning attention. In part, this is why I am still gainfully employed.

Biological Creatures found my poem "an open letter for back to school night" worthy to be included in their inaugural issue. But then they went under. Thankfully, the good folks at Second Chance Lit gave it new life You can read it here.

And as always, if you see yourself within its lines, you get no apologies from me (esp. if you’re a parent of one of my kids).

Addendum

What it might have looked like if I had actually read this at back to school night in the middle of a pandemic…