In the Language of My Captor Hardcover – February 7, 2017

The beauty in this collection, and in all the characters McCrae invokes, is that they help the hopelessly disconnected to relate to experiences they will never have and while they all must bow to survive, the refuse to be crushed or dominated.

This book is unsettling in the best way.

I am reading through this contemporary poet backwards. I wr0te a review of his newest, this year's book. This is his book previous to that. Actually, I found this collection even more direct. He jars the syntax of English given him by his captor, and it matches his jarring important messages:some days// I tuck notes explanationsInto soft monkey shitsand call white children to the barsI warn the parents / But still they let their children comeAnd that’s my explanation / I amtheir honest mirrorI say Whether you’re hereto see me or to see the monkeysYou’re here to see yourselvesNot every poem is about race in America, but there is often a shot to the brain and body: …intact still, burning, and the whole world ofwrecked, and burned, and abandoned things, each trapped in the mo-ment of its destruction, each thing preserved, bot dead and outsideof death, not in Hell, but in the one fire everywhere, after which thereis no suffering, and so from which there is no relief.At times the message is brief, but pointed: "Where privacy has to be defendedThere is no privacy".If you want to stay comfortable, then these poems are probably not for you. But if you want to read writing with straight forward impact and truth, you will find that over and over in this collection.

These poems carefully trace the intersections of race, history, and family while maintaining a calm yet piercing tone. Some of my favorite moments:Whether you’re here to see me or to see the monkeysYou’re here to see yourselvesby privacy he means / Thiscertainty he has thatThe weapons he has madeWill not be used against himAnd when you see me smiling back that’s me