Great Regulars: When asked about the words he used

in the poem, [Kevin] Young said he had been thinking about the idea of "cleave." "It's a self-antonym--a word that [also] means its opposite." It's a concept that is featured in his latest book, and the idea of Texas splitting fit right in.

Young also says the poem is about loss. "The death of the penny became the death of other things, and a way of mourning something perhaps more grand."

Anthem

from NPR: Newspoet: Kevin Young Writes The Day In Verse

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