poetry by martheaus perkins
Mulberry Literary Fresh Voices Award First Place Winner in Poetry
Natural Remedy
it’s good for babies
to tadpole in dirt.
build a tolerance
for caked darkskin.
bug-eyed poisoned berries
glove-plucked and prepared.
to be pelted
by the dozen.
snow flurries falling
into open ovens.
better listen, half-coat boy. swallow
bacteria. lick rot-blacked wounds,
cough pine needles, scrape
knees. bleed manly, nigga.
Inheritor
Poetry Against Humanity
Martheaus Perkins is the author of The Grace of Black Mothers (forthcoming in Trio House Press 2025). He co-edits BRAWL Lit and teaches literature at George Mason University. He is an emerging Black writer currently dealing with an obsession with excessively long YouTube videos and can be found on Instagram and X @martheaus.