The Poet X Playlist

I had this idea a while back that comes from my least favorite Shakespeare play (12th Night). If it doesn’t have the most beautiful opening line: “If music be the food of love, play on.” And despite my derision of the wise-fool archetype, I have to give credit where credit is due.

Music is love. The way that we express love is musical; it dances and bops and sways. Of course, I am one of those people who finds love in pages and lyrics, be they verse or prose, my heart belongs to words inky and scribbled.

So, what better place to make a playlist than from a book that brought me tears when I read of Xiomara, Xavier, Aman, and Caridad? The Poet X is a book that speaks with Spanglish music that rolls off the tongue, at times sweet and at times bitter. Written by Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X revolves around Xiomara, who writes in a leather-bound book all the things she wishes she could voice. And this girl makes me feel seen when she speaks her poems in a Slam Poetry club. It is beautiful when she finds words that represent all the felt and buried.

I dedicate this playlist to her, a protagonist that rings all too true to the Immigrant families and the potential artists, little girls finally represented. This book is wonderful and kind and worth the read. I hope you listen for its truths and its love.