Silencer by Marcus WickerA suburban park, a church, a job, a cocktail party: to many, these sound like safe places, but for a young black man these insular spaces don't keep out the news--and the actual threat--of gun violence, police brutality, and the biases that keep body, property, and hope in the crosshairs. "Silencer" sings out the dangers of unspoken taboos. Here, the language and cadences of hip-hop and academia meet prayer--these poems are crucibles, from which emerge allegories and elegies, humor and critiques.