“Nightshade, Camouflage”, “Mortar & Method”, “Freestanding Form”

These three poems were originally published in PEN America and showcase the insurrectionary qualities of Tejada’s collection “Why the Assembly Disbanded.” They are set in various locations that develop quickly from one to the next, creating dreamlike sensations of orientation. The not-too-distant futures of these poems are strewn with a language that operates as wayfinders to form maps for an ethical kind of resistance. The three poems branch out in space and time for a  method “to recast the sequence of yesterday.”

retrododernism