Read By: Ricardo Alberto Maldonado

<p>Ricardo Alberto Maldonado on his selections: What could we say to them, those we love, those we’ve lost, our beloveds, now eight months into a pandemic? What kind of vow could make ourselves legible to them and therefore to ourselves? It's been 229 days since I left the Upper East Side and opened shop in Brooklyn, where I spend most of my days at work. These three poems, I feel, make me believe that we can find a way to make the world bearable for each other—the strength and power we desperately need comes from new contract for life and for each other.</p> <p><a href= "https://bookshop.org/books/the-carrying-poems/9781571315120%20">The Carrying by Ada Limón at Bookshop.org</a></p> <p><a href= "https://bookshop.org/books/the-pink-box/9780996139076%20">The Pink Box by Yesenia Montilla at Bookshop.org</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/ceremonies-prose-and-poetry_essex-hemphill/541296/#edition=2196496%20"> Ceremonies by Essex Hemphill at Thriftbooks.com</a></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Music: "Shift of Currents" by Blue Dot Sessions // CC BY-NC 2.0</span></p>