The World We Want is Us is the anthologized debut of Public
Menace; bringing together the revolutionary imaginations of poets from
across the globe to celebrate building fresh creative coalitions in the
mobilization for future change.
Organized into three sections, the Public Menace poets collected in this
anthology span nationalities, poetic styles and revolutionary scopes. On
offer is a kaleidoscopic journey into the intersecting struggles for our
future, expressed through the voices of contemporary poets from America,
Africa, Asia and Europe. The radical approach of Public Menace
concerning the organization of creative communities sees stalwart voices
published alongside fledgling artists, resulting in a roster as diverse
in perspective as it is free-wheeling and wild with its variety of form
and style.
The anthology opens with poems that speak to the sense of wonder and
speculative dreaming that precipitates mobilizing for activism. Take
Root Among the Stars sings to God and dead heroes, contemplates writing
as an act of resistance, and tackles feelings of despondency and dread
that accompany wishes for change. Middle Fingers up marks the
progression of radical thought from the abstract to the concrete: these
poems shout loudly against injustice and subjugation. Transphobia,
racism and colonialism, misogyny, climate catastrophe, technological
interferences and capitalist oppression are among the main topics of
resistance. After the crescendo of powerful refusal expressed throughout
Middle Fingers Up, the collection draws to a close with And All Shall
Be Well. This final section celebrates the regrowth and recuperation
that necessarily accompanies movements for change. Poems here express a
commitment to tenderness and the retention of beauty that fighting for
our futures can steal.
