not without small joys

"not without small joys is, beyond an examination of pleasure, also an examination of stillness, of what the world can afford us even within our solitude if we are willing enough, eager enough, if we open our palms and wait for an offering. These poems burst with the moments of joy within the larger moments of joy. There is such sweetness here, and it lingers well after the book is finished." 

- Hanif Abdurraqib 

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"It is undeniable, the sheer force of Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah's not without small joys, which powerfully conjures a world of tender care even in the face of brutality, proclaiming, "here / there is only / joy / small / & regiving." Let "small" not mean subtle or diminishing, but rather a reclamation of Black vitality, which anti-Blackness seeks to destroy. I am struck by the poet's unique ability to find where the light shines through even the bleakest moments, the language beaming from the crevices of the page, moving as in psalm, as in prayer. This book is a call for Black revolutionary joy, "the grace of two dark hands/ dancing," that is sure to move all of us towards the ecstatic depths of this hope." 

- Muriel Leung