With this, his 17th book and his 4th poetry collection, Kevin Powell further cements his legacy as one of the most celebrated political, cultural, literary, and hip-hop voices in America. A Poem for Evangeline, And Other Songs, is a series of tender and skillfully constructed love letters to his wife, yes. But it is also a sensitive and sacred poetic manifesto for humanity, for America. Be it hate or violence in all forms, mental health, family, history, childhood traumas, the meaning of manhood, or his profound longing for peace, Powell channels forebears like Lucille Clifton, like Federico García Lorca, like the purple cadences and skylight hues of our kinfolk. The result is a poetry book for our times, yes, but also for the times not yet imagined.