Great Regulars: I was trying to honor this history,

and make up my own Confederates, from Gwendolyn Brooks, who opens the book, to Lionel Hampton, the jazz musician, to my friend, Filippe Wamba, who died.

This is "Redemption Song," a poem about personal grief but also about the transformative power of beauty and the healing power of time.

'Redemption Song'

from PBS: Newshour: Young's New Poetry Collection Retraces the South

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