Tjawangwa Dema

"This process of refining is everything is the goal is to write a good (read necessary, urgent) poem"."

"Do not ask me what I good poem is, I only know one when I see or smell it, hear it coming, or sense it scrambling off the stage or page"."

"I remember seeing the sky as it scrunched its face, filling its cheeks with smoke hurling rage at every mans door"."

"When my chapbook, Mandible, got published I dont believe I thought about curation very much"."

"I studied in Botswana and in the classroom it was the reading of stories that drew me to language, not poetry specifically"."

"My clay begins elesewhere where Okavango pours into Boteti & re appears here to watch this other water from a distance"."

"One of the things I was afraid I would miss out on with a digital residency was the very local and human voice but thankfully through technology we can approximate some of what a conversation in person accomplishes"."

"My sister works well at the daily chore of keeping everyone alive"

"Here is a line between mana and man / and nature / man-made / as all false boundaries are"."