Play Ebony: Play Ivory

Book excerpt: "The death of Henry Dumas was violent, tragic, and wrong. But it is his life, as revealed in these poems, that commands our attention. Sweet Home, Arkansas, the place of his birth, is here in the pristine blues poem 'Knees of a natural man.' Harlem, where he later lived, is here in 'Mosaic Harlem.' And the philosophy and passion that come from being in touch with the whole universe are here as well in 'Genesis on an endless mosaic.' Then there are the love poems--acid, sensual, intense. Here is a poet of both the mind and the flesh, whose boldness is the consequence of certainty and whose restraint has the touch of a master at the reins"--From back cover.