Nadia Alexis is a poet, writer, photographer, and daughter of Haitian immigrants. Her writing is published in Poets & Writers, The Global South, Shenandoah, Wild Imperfections: An Anthology of Womanist Poems, and others.

"If you are looking for a love story where the daughter learns through her mother's survival all the ways to eat a mango, cook a meal, bury desire, marry for thunder, or love with noise – these poems are the blueprint for discovery. An assignment in living unabashedly or a lyric for the moved spirit, Nadia Alexis prepares a place at humanity's table for her countrymen with kind hands. A quilt of Haitian language, Kreyol kinship, visual art, and hope, Beyond the Watershed invites every reader to bathe in the brilliance of Black women's burgeoning; Alexis writes us whole within these poetic prayers."

• WatershedPermissionFrom Haiti to New YorkPortraitsCassette-Letter ‘95Ma RitualPrayer to Èzili Dantò ITrailsDaddy RitualCantaloupeDefinitionLamentPrayer to Èzili Dantò IILessonsBrowsing the Web While Ma is DyingGranpapaSelf Portrait as a Father’s DaughterHopscotchScarWhen the Hymen Didn’t BreakPrayer to Èzili Dantò IIIHow to Be Friends With a Sex WorkerI Don’t Own Any WatchesDaughterhoodDevouredHe ReasonsLanguagePrayer to Èzili Dantò IVThalassophobiaHow to Make Yourself SmallA Horse’s ArrivalElegy for the UnbornWhat Happens When You Hug Your MotherOf Fable & SuperstitionPreyPrayer to Èzili Dantò VPraise Song for MaSelf Portrait at the Dominican Hair SalonAubade After the StormsDreams of DaddySuppose You Failed to Cover Your Mouth& So Evil Spirits Flew Out of Your BodyPhotographing Your MotherYour Therapist Asks in What Ways Are You Like Your Father?Prayer to Èzili Dantò VIKneesNocturneCycleLetter to My Friend RobertSomeday I’ll Love Nadia AlexisBirdwomanAcknowledgments

Nadia Alexis is a poet, writer, photographer, and daughter of Haitian immigrants. Her writing is published in Poets & Writers, The Global South, Shenandoah, Wild Imperfections: An Anthology of Womanist Poems, and others.

"If you are looking for a love story where the daughter learns through her mother's survival all the ways to eat a mango, cook a meal, bury desire, marry for thunder, or love with noise – these poems are the blueprint for discovery. An assignment in living unabashedly or a lyric for the moved spirit, Nadia Alexis prepares a place at humanity's table for her countrymen with kind hands. A quilt of Haitian language, Kreyol kinship, visual art, and hope, Beyond the Watershed invites every reader to bathe in the brilliance of Black women's burgeoning; Alexis writes us whole within these poetic prayers."

• WatershedPermissionFrom Haiti to New YorkPortraitsCassette-Letter ‘95Ma RitualPrayer to Èzili Dantò ITrailsDaddy RitualCantaloupeDefinitionLamentPrayer to Èzili Dantò IILessonsBrowsing the Web While Ma is DyingGranpapaSelf Portrait as a Father’s DaughterHopscotchScarWhen the Hymen Didn’t BreakPrayer to Èzili Dantò IIIHow to Be Friends With a Sex WorkerI Don’t Own Any WatchesDaughterhoodDevouredHe ReasonsLanguagePrayer to Èzili Dantò IVThalassophobiaHow to Make Yourself SmallA Horse’s ArrivalElegy for the UnbornWhat Happens When You Hug Your MotherOf Fable & SuperstitionPreyPrayer to Èzili Dantò VPraise Song for MaSelf Portrait at the Dominican Hair SalonAubade After the StormsDreams of DaddySuppose You Failed to Cover Your Mouth& So Evil Spirits Flew Out of Your BodyPhotographing Your MotherYour Therapist Asks in What Ways Are You Like Your Father?Prayer to Èzili Dantò VIKneesNocturneCycleLetter to My Friend RobertSomeday I’ll Love Nadia AlexisBirdwomanAcknowledgments

Nadia Alexis is a poet, writer, photographer, and daughter of Haitian immigrants. Her writing is published in Poets & Writers, The Global South, Shenandoah, Wild Imperfections: An Anthology of Womanist Poems, and others.

"If you are looking for a love story where the daughter learns through her mother's survival all the ways to eat a mango, cook a meal, bury desire, marry for thunder, or love with noise – these poems are the blueprint for discovery. An assignment in living unabashedly or a lyric for the moved spirit, Nadia Alexis prepares a place at humanity's table for her countrymen with kind hands. A quilt of Haitian language, Kreyol kinship, visual art, and hope, Beyond the Watershed invites every reader to bathe in the brilliance of Black women's burgeoning; Alexis writes us whole within these poetic prayers."

• WatershedPermissionFrom Haiti to New YorkPortraitsCassette-Letter ‘95Ma RitualPrayer to Èzili Dantò ITrailsDaddy RitualCantaloupeDefinitionLamentPrayer to Èzili Dantò IILessonsBrowsing the Web While Ma is DyingGranpapaSelf Portrait as a Father’s DaughterHopscotchScarWhen the Hymen Didn’t BreakPrayer to Èzili Dantò IIIHow to Be Friends With a Sex WorkerI Don’t Own Any WatchesDaughterhoodDevouredHe ReasonsLanguagePrayer to Èzili Dantò IVThalassophobiaHow to Make Yourself SmallA Horse’s ArrivalElegy for the UnbornWhat Happens When You Hug Your MotherOf Fable & SuperstitionPreyPrayer to Èzili Dantò VPraise Song for MaSelf Portrait at the Dominican Hair SalonAubade After the StormsDreams of DaddySuppose You Failed to Cover Your Mouth& So Evil Spirits Flew Out of Your BodyPhotographing Your MotherYour Therapist Asks in What Ways Are You Like Your Father?Prayer to Èzili Dantò VIKneesNocturneCycleLetter to My Friend RobertSomeday I’ll Love Nadia AlexisBirdwomanAcknowledgments