Soulmate as a Verb

Poems of tender knowledge, buoyant survival, and Black, trans embodiment.

The simple yet fraught experience of embodiment lies at the thrumming heart of Kelsey L. Smoot's SOULMATE AS A VERB. Bodies make love possible, they enable tender connection and transmit electric joy, all while leaving one vulnerable to discord and abuse, heartbreak and grief. Like a body, Smoot's daring poetry metabolizes cruelty, seeking the tender knowledge and kinships that allow for buoyant survival. The subjectivity of a Black, trans self becomes a prism, shining a variegated intellect on everything from suburbia to Palestine, top surgery to police violence. By utilizing forms such as kwansaba, calligram, Craigslist personals, and golden shovels, SOULMATE AS A VERB revels in structures that locate poet and poem in a lineage of innovative and contemporary Black, queer verse. Kelsey L. Smoot dazzles.

Author: Kelsey L. Smoot
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Dopamine/Semiotext(e)
Published: 02/24/2026
Pages: 120
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.50w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781635902822