Under My Skin

by Orville Lloyd Douglas

'Under My Skin' asks a variety of questions, such as: Why are young black gay men invisible in Canada's queer and black communities? Do their lives really matter? How do young black men deal with the daily challenges of dealing with multiple oppressions in relation to our race and gender? Is Canada truly a multicultural nation? Why are the brothers dying due to gun violence on the streets of Toronto?

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Adult, Canada

75 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2014

Reviews

[Gerasimos Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this. Very bold poetry about the experience of a black gay man living in Canada, without ever resorting to be oversimplifying or feel like reading a laundry list (like a lot of the Tumblr poetry emerging the past few years). Almost every single poem was thought-provoking and had something to say in an interesting way.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think this book of poetry would appeal to everyone, but it is an important work. Douglas places before the reader a mixture of words that evoke strong emotions as felt by a gay, black man in Canada. I appreciated the power of his words to help me feel and understand even a small portion of the frustration and anger that is felt by those who are doubly, even triply marginalized because of race, ethnicity and sexuality.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Under My Skin is the second poetry collection I have read from Orville Lloyd Douglas this year (I also read You Don't Know Me), and I think I liked it even better. Douglas is able to use language and raw emotion to his benefit to look at the racism and homophobia that make up much of Canadian culture. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a good poetry collection.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know why, I just couldn't get into this book. It felt like work. I tried very hard. But I do think that poetry is much like art; it's a matter of personal taste. And this collection wasn't for me.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some poems were better than others, but I could definitely make an emotional connection with all of them. A good collection.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queer rage is something to behold. Orville’s poetry book is astounding, filled with grief, passion, and anger. A note that some poems are sexually explicit.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Orville Lloyd Douglas excavates his experience as a black, queer man in Canada from politics to sex to a meaningful and ultimately tragic love affair, reflecting himself back from the eyes and words of others. I appreciate how bold this collection is, in his frank discussion of the intersections of race, nationality, sexuality and human relationships. Douglas is blunt, and often says things in a surprising or beautiful way. While I do appreciate reading this book, I also do admit that it wasn't up to my usual standards of craftsmanship in the language or appearance of the poems on the page, and the overall flow of the book was a bit jumpy.

[Alistair · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are powerful,raw poems; there are six sections that cover two principal themes: injustice and passion.Douglas rails against the inherent racism he experiences living in Canada.
"Does the heavy heart surrender if the beat is weak
And the spirit once a sunburst is now just a flicker?
No job, no future, despite a university education
Your qualifications are just as good as pale-skinned folks "

Never sell-pitying, nor maudlin:

"Don't act so surprised that I'm the black faggott
Alive, in the background "

The section entitled 'Vick' consists of nine poems that are filled with ecstasy, eroticism and despair that comes with love and loss.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another brutal collection, slightly more hopeful than the Karr book (I think because Douglas is less interested in an afterlife). It's all about what it's like to be young, black, and queer in Canada. Now, I'm American, so I know it sucks to be any of those things here (much less all of them), but I had no idea that it sucked just as much in Canada. It was an eye-opening read, if one that suffers just a bit from millenial poetry issues. I'd recommend reading it either way, but it may not be something you enjoy, necessarily.

[KyaP_Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extremely bold collection of writings from Toronto poet Orville Lloyd Douglas. I will be reviewing it for my Journal of Canadian Urban Fiction in February of 2015, and will post my review at that time at http://www.CanadianUrbanFiction.com.

[S Whittaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent in every way! Thought provoking, intense, dripping with raw emotion... Vocabulary and content rich! Highly recommended...

[willowdog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poems filled with anger and rage explore social conditions, race relations, and sex.

[Meg]

not my fav, but the anger is real /important