Distributed for CavanKerry Press
Orange
A bold and tender portrait of family, identity, and truth in the North Bronx.
Through narrative poems and innovative forms inspired by color theory and elementary school, Orange explores the ripple effects of queerness, lies, and finding yourself in a family. In this visceral new collection, however, the scope of “family” expands well beyond the nuclear unit; Noel Quiñones’s poems center relationships between friends, cousins, partners, and many other family members. Painting a vivid and fraught portrait of the North Bronx, Quiñones unflinchingly confronts the contradictions at the heart of love, divorce, gender, religion, and community, unpacking the complexities of coming out, divorced parents, and generational trauma. Orange ultimately argues that truth resembles color: something real, yet elusive, and impossible to prove.
Through narrative poems and innovative forms inspired by color theory and elementary school, Orange explores the ripple effects of queerness, lies, and finding yourself in a family. In this visceral new collection, however, the scope of “family” expands well beyond the nuclear unit; Noel Quiñones’s poems center relationships between friends, cousins, partners, and many other family members. Painting a vivid and fraught portrait of the North Bronx, Quiñones unflinchingly confronts the contradictions at the heart of love, divorce, gender, religion, and community, unpacking the complexities of coming out, divorced parents, and generational trauma. Orange ultimately argues that truth resembles color: something real, yet elusive, and impossible to prove.
Table of Contents
Ms. Frizzle Explains Color Theory
I.
How to Color Mami
The Bronx River Forest
The Many Saints of Norwood
Divorce
Blockbuster Fever
You Sang to Me
How to Spit Game on Mosholu Parkway
Girls Gone Wild
Baby It’s Bold Outside | Gelish®
The Pumpkin Boy
Custody
Ms. Frizzle Reads the Tale of La Cucarachita Martina
GIRLY!
I Tell My Cousin the Truth in 2005
How to Learn the Scholar’s Mate
The Science Fair
II.
Gray Scale
Self-Interrogation
Monday Night Mass with Complete Citations
My First Friend
My Neighborhood Map
How to Sell Bootleg DVDs and Not Get Caught
Ms. Frizzle Chaperones the Bronx Zoo Sleepaway Camp
Nocturne
[ ]sexual
Him
Anaphylaxis
Denim Wings
Overlooking Rochambeau Avenue
Monochromatic Red
My Last Friend
The Middle School Come Up
For the Last Time Papi Tells the Truth About 1993
III.
Orange
Marriage
Runway
For the First Time Mami Tells the Truth About 1995
Saturation
Between Red and Orange
thedress
In the Company of Men
Ms. Frizzle Let’s Me Explain Color Theory
Annulment
My Best Friend Defines Romance
The Burke Bridge Trail
The Time Capsule
How to Connect Papi
Beyond Orange
I.
How to Color Mami
The Bronx River Forest
The Many Saints of Norwood
Divorce
Blockbuster Fever
You Sang to Me
How to Spit Game on Mosholu Parkway
Girls Gone Wild
Baby It’s Bold Outside | Gelish®
The Pumpkin Boy
Custody
Ms. Frizzle Reads the Tale of La Cucarachita Martina
GIRLY!
I Tell My Cousin the Truth in 2005
How to Learn the Scholar’s Mate
The Science Fair
II.
Gray Scale
Self-Interrogation
Monday Night Mass with Complete Citations
My First Friend
My Neighborhood Map
How to Sell Bootleg DVDs and Not Get Caught
Ms. Frizzle Chaperones the Bronx Zoo Sleepaway Camp
Nocturne
[ ]sexual
Him
Anaphylaxis
Denim Wings
Overlooking Rochambeau Avenue
Monochromatic Red
My Last Friend
The Middle School Come Up
For the Last Time Papi Tells the Truth About 1993
III.
Orange
Marriage
Runway
For the First Time Mami Tells the Truth About 1995
Saturation
Between Red and Orange
thedress
In the Company of Men
Ms. Frizzle Let’s Me Explain Color Theory
Annulment
My Best Friend Defines Romance
The Burke Bridge Trail
The Time Capsule
How to Connect Papi
Beyond Orange