JohnMurillo’ssecondbookisareflectivelookatthelegacyofinstitutional,acceptedviolenceagainstBlacksandLatinosandthepersonalandsocietalwreckagewroughtbylonghistoriesofsubjugation.Asparrowtrappedinacarwindowevokesamotherbatteredbyafather’sfists;aworkoutatanirongymrecallsalong-agomentorwhopushedthespeaker“tobecomesomethingunbreakable.“Thepresenceoftheseandpoeticforbears--GilScott-Heron,YusefKomunyakaa--provideacontextforstrengthinthefaceofdangerandanger.AttheheartofthebookisasonnetcrowntriggeredbytheshootingdeathsofthreeBrooklynmenthatbecomesanextendedmeditationonthehistoryofracialinjusticeandthenotionofpaybackasaformofjustice.
