\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026ldquo;Chris Abani\u0026rsquo;s poetry resonates with a devastating beauty which cuts through to the heart of human strength.\u0026rdquo;\u0026mdash;\u003cI\u003ePride\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cI\u003e \u003c/I\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003eHands Washing Water\u003c/I\u003e is Chris Abani's fourth poetry collection\u0026mdash;a mischievous book of displacement, exile, ancestry, and subversive humor. The central section, \u0026ldquo;Buffalo Women,\u0026rdquo; is a Civil War correspondence between lovers that plays on our assumptions about war, gender, morality, and politics.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003eSweetest Henri,\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003eI know we promised to be honest,\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003eone to the other, but your recent missive,\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003ethough welcome as any epistle from you,\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003efilled me with a dread that clung\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003elike dampness to wet wood. I am terrified\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003efor your immortal soul, dear sweet Henri.\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003eThis mad war of Lincoln is infecting you\u003c/I\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cI\u003ewith a sickness too depraved to even address. . .\u003c/I\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbani\u0026rsquo;s writing is ruthless, at times traumatic, and consistently filled with surprising twists and turns.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e
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