Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy

Tony Medina presents thirteen tanka, with each poem paired with work by a different artist. Together, the poems offer thirteen glimpses of Black boys and young men in ordinary life: dressing for Sunday, hurrying to a bus, and imagining adulthood as teachers. The collection centers daily experiences and growth, using brief poetic observations and varied artwork to show multiple views of Black boyhood across childhood and adulthood in familiar settings.