Sh8kes is a necessary poetic voice. In a world where the truth of who you are and what you've been through is often denied, it is important that those who aren't always thought of can find themselves in his writing. There is a passion, a determination in the lines. There is a calling in the lines. There is the power of a Sunday sermon, the honesty of a family dinner, and the grit of a city street corner present in these poems. - Dasan Ahanu