What do you think?
Rate this book
Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration
Like A Hammer is an anthology of poems that unearths the shared traumas produced by America’s incarceration system.
These powerful poems of witness seek to address the oppressive systems that make up the US prison-industrial complex, revealing cracks in a criminal punishment system that too often appears unchangeable. The impacts of that system reverberate through lives and across generations. The poets gathered here aim to foreground the real experiences of people touched by the system, to upend dominant narratives, shine light on injustice, and act as a fulcrum around which to organize communities in support of change.
Like A Hammer explores how art and imagination can serve as vehicles for endurance, offering us the hope to envision a better future.
Contributors Hanif Abdurraqib, Rhionna Anderson, Brian Batchelor, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Marina Bueno, Cody Bruce, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Natalie Diaz, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Nikky Finney, Kennedy A. Gisege, Gustavo Guerra, Jessica Hill, Vicki Hicks, Randall Horton, Sandra Jackson, Catherine LaFleur, Ada Limón, Sarah Lynn Maatsch, Christopher Malec, Eduardo Martinez, John Murillo, Angel Nafis, Kenneth Nadeau, Leeann Parker, James Pearl, Christina Pernini, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Patrick Rosal, Nicole Sealey, Evie Shockley, Patricia Smith, Sin á Tes Souhaits, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, Erica "Ewok" Walker, Candace Williams, and SHE>i
These powerful poems of witness seek to address the oppressive systems that make up the US prison-industrial complex, revealing cracks in a criminal punishment system that too often appears unchangeable. The impacts of that system reverberate through lives and across generations. The poets gathered here aim to foreground the real experiences of people touched by the system, to upend dominant narratives, shine light on injustice, and act as a fulcrum around which to organize communities in support of change.
Like A Hammer explores how art and imagination can serve as vehicles for endurance, offering us the hope to envision a better future.
Contributors Hanif Abdurraqib, Rhionna Anderson, Brian Batchelor, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Marina Bueno, Cody Bruce, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Natalie Diaz, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Nikky Finney, Kennedy A. Gisege, Gustavo Guerra, Jessica Hill, Vicki Hicks, Randall Horton, Sandra Jackson, Catherine LaFleur, Ada Limón, Sarah Lynn Maatsch, Christopher Malec, Eduardo Martinez, John Murillo, Angel Nafis, Kenneth Nadeau, Leeann Parker, James Pearl, Christina Pernini, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Patrick Rosal, Nicole Sealey, Evie Shockley, Patricia Smith, Sin á Tes Souhaits, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, Erica "Ewok" Walker, Candace Williams, and SHE>i
- GenresPoetryNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
Published March 4, 2025
8 people are currently reading
341 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 6, 2025
"You are lovely in the eyes of the state."
Having read a good number of anthologies and helped curate and edit a few, I say with confidence that a good poetry antho is hard to pull off. It isn't just about including good poetry; organization really matters, as well as choosing poets whose work is especially meaningful to the topic and in conversation with each other. Like A Hammer really nails all of this (see what I did there), making it a significant contribution to literature on U.S. mass incarceration.
Diana Marie Delgado has curated such a solid collection of poets, from heavy hitters like Patricia Smith, Natalie Diaz, Nikky Finney, and Hanif Abqurraqib, and from less represented poets, including many who are currently incarcerated. One of my favorite things Delgado has done is to include multiple poems by the same poets. It adds so much to the antho's cohesion and gives it a real sense of community coming together to share their art. Such a smart idea! The antho is divided into sections that cover different aspects of imprisonment and the prison industrial complex. This includes the dichotomy of time (there being too much of it in prison, but also how prison takes away one's time); the space created for imagination, in the face of imprisonment; the experience of being incarcerated; and the experience of those who love someone in prison.
"Punishment takes time. It keeps a lot of people busy.
Punishment is a many levered machine and requires much
labor, many hands, a lot of concentration and intentionality
to pull all those levers. Which lever has your hand rested on?"
The devastation of mass incarceration is far-reaching because systems of U.S. power, like law enforcement, political parties, and school systems operate under white supremacy to ensure the carceral system is booming and profitable. Profitable for those in charge, but fracturing for generations of (primarily Black) families and communities. Poets like Natalie Diaz, who has an incarcerated sister, speak so strongly to this lasting trauma, while Cody Bruce and Leeann Parker share the shame and loneliness of being behind bars and not being able to see their children or other loved ones.
"I razor-bladed this apple
in the shape of
a lotus for you."
Poets like Catherine Lefleur in "Devour" share such great imagery, a reminder to...well, those that apparently need reminding, of the brilliance and artistry of incarcerated folks and their strength of imagination, often against a system that is working as designed but that has failed them horribly. Tongo Eisen-Martin writes, "I am lucky to be a metaphor for no one."
While some poems are more intimate and personal, others call out the larger system of U.S. incarceration, both its history and what it continues to do now. Vanessa Angelica Villarreal's "Architect 3" traces the history of the carceral system, and while I don't normally like story/narrative-type poems this is just so, so good, complete with a picture and diagram of Eastern State Penitentiary, which opened in 1829.
"American's first penitentiary inmate: a Black
farmer who stole a watch, a coin, and a key.
The three things stolen from the enslaved:
time, compensation for labor, freedom."
Complicity is a thing we don't talk about enough, and I was surprised to see elements of that included, especially Natalie Diaz's "Under Correction II" with this absolute banger of a stanza:
"The Ford Foundation Justice Grant
gave me money to write this poem, invested
in me while simultaneously investing in
the system which has imprisoned my sister"
So often, corporations and organizations will quietly invest in both sides of a system, and this call-out is so, so satisfying and needed.
To really blow you away, the antho ends with Nikki Finney's "Black Boy With Cow: A Still Life," a long poem about George J. Stinney Jr., the youngest to be executed by the electric chair in the U.S., at just age 14. I read this poem in an earlier collection of Finney's, but when bookending this whole amazing collection, it is incredibly powerful. It forces you, before closing the book, to face the reality of what we do to Black and brown people in this country. We. Do. This. Genocide can be slow, and it started a long time ago in the U.S., under a system that still today separates children from their families and imprisons them. We. Do. This.
I had to sit with this one multiple times before reviewing it, it's really an amazing anthology and a crucial addition to all literature on abolition and the U.S. prison industrial complex. We face some very dark shit right now, as we outsource prisons and turn them even further into death camps with very little judicial involvement. It's so important to know how the prison system functions and leaves lasting trauma on underserved communities.
Having read a good number of anthologies and helped curate and edit a few, I say with confidence that a good poetry antho is hard to pull off. It isn't just about including good poetry; organization really matters, as well as choosing poets whose work is especially meaningful to the topic and in conversation with each other. Like A Hammer really nails all of this (see what I did there), making it a significant contribution to literature on U.S. mass incarceration.
Diana Marie Delgado has curated such a solid collection of poets, from heavy hitters like Patricia Smith, Natalie Diaz, Nikky Finney, and Hanif Abqurraqib, and from less represented poets, including many who are currently incarcerated. One of my favorite things Delgado has done is to include multiple poems by the same poets. It adds so much to the antho's cohesion and gives it a real sense of community coming together to share their art. Such a smart idea! The antho is divided into sections that cover different aspects of imprisonment and the prison industrial complex. This includes the dichotomy of time (there being too much of it in prison, but also how prison takes away one's time); the space created for imagination, in the face of imprisonment; the experience of being incarcerated; and the experience of those who love someone in prison.
"Punishment takes time. It keeps a lot of people busy.
Punishment is a many levered machine and requires much
labor, many hands, a lot of concentration and intentionality
to pull all those levers. Which lever has your hand rested on?"
The devastation of mass incarceration is far-reaching because systems of U.S. power, like law enforcement, political parties, and school systems operate under white supremacy to ensure the carceral system is booming and profitable. Profitable for those in charge, but fracturing for generations of (primarily Black) families and communities. Poets like Natalie Diaz, who has an incarcerated sister, speak so strongly to this lasting trauma, while Cody Bruce and Leeann Parker share the shame and loneliness of being behind bars and not being able to see their children or other loved ones.
"I razor-bladed this apple
in the shape of
a lotus for you."
Poets like Catherine Lefleur in "Devour" share such great imagery, a reminder to...well, those that apparently need reminding, of the brilliance and artistry of incarcerated folks and their strength of imagination, often against a system that is working as designed but that has failed them horribly. Tongo Eisen-Martin writes, "I am lucky to be a metaphor for no one."
While some poems are more intimate and personal, others call out the larger system of U.S. incarceration, both its history and what it continues to do now. Vanessa Angelica Villarreal's "Architect 3" traces the history of the carceral system, and while I don't normally like story/narrative-type poems this is just so, so good, complete with a picture and diagram of Eastern State Penitentiary, which opened in 1829.
"American's first penitentiary inmate: a Black
farmer who stole a watch, a coin, and a key.
The three things stolen from the enslaved:
time, compensation for labor, freedom."
Complicity is a thing we don't talk about enough, and I was surprised to see elements of that included, especially Natalie Diaz's "Under Correction II" with this absolute banger of a stanza:
"The Ford Foundation Justice Grant
gave me money to write this poem, invested
in me while simultaneously investing in
the system which has imprisoned my sister"
So often, corporations and organizations will quietly invest in both sides of a system, and this call-out is so, so satisfying and needed.
To really blow you away, the antho ends with Nikki Finney's "Black Boy With Cow: A Still Life," a long poem about George J. Stinney Jr., the youngest to be executed by the electric chair in the U.S., at just age 14. I read this poem in an earlier collection of Finney's, but when bookending this whole amazing collection, it is incredibly powerful. It forces you, before closing the book, to face the reality of what we do to Black and brown people in this country. We. Do. This. Genocide can be slow, and it started a long time ago in the U.S., under a system that still today separates children from their families and imprisons them. We. Do. This.
I had to sit with this one multiple times before reviewing it, it's really an amazing anthology and a crucial addition to all literature on abolition and the U.S. prison industrial complex. We face some very dark shit right now, as we outsource prisons and turn them even further into death camps with very little judicial involvement. It's so important to know how the prison system functions and leaves lasting trauma on underserved communities.
January 12, 2025
4.5, such a beautiful anthology -- the care put into it was evident on every page. really underlines the possibilities of poetry as a community-building act and interweaves a real sense of dignity (and even sometimes hope) throughout, alongside its grief and anger. powerful and deeply upsetting, but not completely bleak.... a good reminder of how important solidarity is in working toward radical change
i really enjoyed seeing some of my favorite contemporary poets featured prominently in this collection -- hanif abdurraqib and natalie diaz were highlights for me, as usual -- and the spacing of multiple works by the same poets throughout this collection really afforded it a sense of coherence and connection that i think is necessary in an anthology of this length
my favorite part of this collection, however, was the sheer amount of fascinating and exciting experimental poetry, much of which is from poets i haven't encountered before. among the standouts for me were vanessa angelica villarreal, gustavo guerra, angel nafis, nicole sealey, and marcelo hernandez castillo. some of these poems (especially in part vi) are among the best experimental poetry i've ever read, while remaining grounded, moving, and incredibly personal, which isn't easy to do.... there are tables and images and footnotes and different levels of text opacity.... just a few things to look forward to :)
as with every anthology, there were poems that didn't work for me, and i felt some of the earlier sections were a bit tonally incoherent. the work builds a lot of momentum throughout its course. i really recommend following the preface's suggestion and reading the entire thing through chronologically. if you can, having it as your only read really helps preserve its overall feeling, and keeps it in your mind while not reading it.
a definite recommendation, especially to anyone interested in experimental contemporary poetry!
i really enjoyed seeing some of my favorite contemporary poets featured prominently in this collection -- hanif abdurraqib and natalie diaz were highlights for me, as usual -- and the spacing of multiple works by the same poets throughout this collection really afforded it a sense of coherence and connection that i think is necessary in an anthology of this length
my favorite part of this collection, however, was the sheer amount of fascinating and exciting experimental poetry, much of which is from poets i haven't encountered before. among the standouts for me were vanessa angelica villarreal, gustavo guerra, angel nafis, nicole sealey, and marcelo hernandez castillo. some of these poems (especially in part vi) are among the best experimental poetry i've ever read, while remaining grounded, moving, and incredibly personal, which isn't easy to do.... there are tables and images and footnotes and different levels of text opacity.... just a few things to look forward to :)
as with every anthology, there were poems that didn't work for me, and i felt some of the earlier sections were a bit tonally incoherent. the work builds a lot of momentum throughout its course. i really recommend following the preface's suggestion and reading the entire thing through chronologically. if you can, having it as your only read really helps preserve its overall feeling, and keeps it in your mind while not reading it.
a definite recommendation, especially to anyone interested in experimental contemporary poetry!
August 6, 2025
absolutely essential reading.
February 23, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book will be released in the US on March 4th, 2025 by Haymarket Books.
Full Rating: 4.25 stars rounded up
In Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration, editor Diana Marie Delgado gathers a compelling collection of poetry that unmasks the painful truths of the U.S. prison-industrial complex, demanding the reader confront the inescapable grip it has on both bodies and minds. These poems are birthed from the voices of the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and those who love them, each one a testament to the human cost of carcerality. With stark imagery and layered metaphor, the poets refuse to accept the notion that incarceration is an inevitable force, choosing instead to depict it as a monstrous system fueled by colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism’s demand for control.
The collection is a vivid portrayal of the suffocating nature of imprisonment, where time becomes a stagnant, oppressive force and where families are torn apart, their bonds stretched thin by the miles and glass that separate them. The poets also offer an incisive critique of the systems that push individuals toward crime, exposing the links between poverty, addiction, and state-sanctioned violence. Themes of guilt, survival, and resilience pulse through the pages, as these voices reflect on the dehumanization inherent in both punishment and policing. The body, as both a site of resistance and suffering, is explored with tenderness and urgency, especially through the lens of the feminist experience within the prison system.
One of the most striking elements of Like a Hammer is the experimental form of many poems. Poems like Sin à Tes Souhaits' "TRAP," which interrogates the devastating consequences of racism through multiple definitions of "trap," and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal's "Architect 1," which traces the birth of carcerality back to European colonialism, provide sharp political critique while maintaining deep emotional resonance. Meanwhile, Candace Williams' "black, body" and Nicole Sealey's "An excerpt from ‘Notes from the Visitations’" challenge the dehumanizing structures of policing and the ways they disproportionately affect Black and brown bodies.
Ultimately, Like a Hammer is not just a collection of poems; it is a call to imagine a world beyond prisons, one where justice is not synonymous with suffering. Through these poems, we are asked to witness the pain, but also the resilience, of those who have been brutalized by the system—and in doing so, to demand a future without cages.
📖 Recommended For: Fans of radical poetry, abolitionist thought, and the intersections of personal testimony and political critique; readers interested in the impacts of carcerality on individuals and families; those interested in abolition of police and prisons.
🔑 Key Themes: Mass Incarceration, Dehumanization, Family Separation, Historical and Systemic Roots of Oppression, Feminist Perspectives on Prison, Resistance and Re-imagining Justice.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Suicide (minor), Self Harm (minor), Alcohol (minor), Drug Use (minor), Racial Slurs (minor), Police Brutality (minor), Murder (minor), Racism (minor), Rape (minor), Torture (severe).
Full Rating: 4.25 stars rounded up
In Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration, editor Diana Marie Delgado gathers a compelling collection of poetry that unmasks the painful truths of the U.S. prison-industrial complex, demanding the reader confront the inescapable grip it has on both bodies and minds. These poems are birthed from the voices of the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and those who love them, each one a testament to the human cost of carcerality. With stark imagery and layered metaphor, the poets refuse to accept the notion that incarceration is an inevitable force, choosing instead to depict it as a monstrous system fueled by colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism’s demand for control.
The collection is a vivid portrayal of the suffocating nature of imprisonment, where time becomes a stagnant, oppressive force and where families are torn apart, their bonds stretched thin by the miles and glass that separate them. The poets also offer an incisive critique of the systems that push individuals toward crime, exposing the links between poverty, addiction, and state-sanctioned violence. Themes of guilt, survival, and resilience pulse through the pages, as these voices reflect on the dehumanization inherent in both punishment and policing. The body, as both a site of resistance and suffering, is explored with tenderness and urgency, especially through the lens of the feminist experience within the prison system.
One of the most striking elements of Like a Hammer is the experimental form of many poems. Poems like Sin à Tes Souhaits' "TRAP," which interrogates the devastating consequences of racism through multiple definitions of "trap," and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal's "Architect 1," which traces the birth of carcerality back to European colonialism, provide sharp political critique while maintaining deep emotional resonance. Meanwhile, Candace Williams' "black, body" and Nicole Sealey's "An excerpt from ‘Notes from the Visitations’" challenge the dehumanizing structures of policing and the ways they disproportionately affect Black and brown bodies.
Ultimately, Like a Hammer is not just a collection of poems; it is a call to imagine a world beyond prisons, one where justice is not synonymous with suffering. Through these poems, we are asked to witness the pain, but also the resilience, of those who have been brutalized by the system—and in doing so, to demand a future without cages.
📖 Recommended For: Fans of radical poetry, abolitionist thought, and the intersections of personal testimony and political critique; readers interested in the impacts of carcerality on individuals and families; those interested in abolition of police and prisons.
🔑 Key Themes: Mass Incarceration, Dehumanization, Family Separation, Historical and Systemic Roots of Oppression, Feminist Perspectives on Prison, Resistance and Re-imagining Justice.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Suicide (minor), Self Harm (minor), Alcohol (minor), Drug Use (minor), Racial Slurs (minor), Police Brutality (minor), Murder (minor), Racism (minor), Rape (minor), Torture (severe).
April 21, 2025
A must-read for everyone everywhere, this evokes emotion and a need for discussion.
January 14, 2026
Amazing. A must-read testimony in poetry.
April 14, 2025
A phrase that has been circulating widely on social media recently is, “What radicalised you?" It can be sincerely hoped (and fondly believed) that this will make a significant impact on someone. It is deeply necessary while remaining beautifully crafted, undeniably one of the best approaches to such a subject and perspective. Some pieces will remain inked in my memory; I could mention Blood History by Reginald Dwayne Betts, Eclogue by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, D.O.C. by Pat Ewok, Under Correction II by Nathalie Diaz, and the historical bits from Vanessa Angélica Villarreal.
June 16, 2025
The last picture, the one of him I hate the most, stays with me the longest - there's the grasping whiner who *really* needs canteen money but never thanks me for raising his four year old daughter.
He's the single syllable grunt, head scarred, grossly swollen from prison workouts, who I avoid mentioning to friends whose sons are waving grad school acceptance letters or touring France with their jazz bands. The most I will let on: 'He's in Boston on his own.'
I don't say: 'He's locked up, but the phone rings sometimes.'
-"The Phone Rings Sometimes" by Patricia Smith
Overall, this is a really strong poetry collection from the formerly and currently incarcerated as well as others who have been directly or indirectly affected by our criminal legal system.
Some of the poems and pieces were definitely stronger than others. I'm typically more of a traditionalist when it comes to poetry style, but I still enjoyed some of the more avant garde pieces in this collection.
But still, this is a great collection reflecting on the structural violence of prisons, immigration detention. I've read a lot of nonfiction about these topics - I think it's worthwhile to take time to reflect on this from a more creative vantage point, which this does well.
He's the single syllable grunt, head scarred, grossly swollen from prison workouts, who I avoid mentioning to friends whose sons are waving grad school acceptance letters or touring France with their jazz bands. The most I will let on: 'He's in Boston on his own.'
I don't say: 'He's locked up, but the phone rings sometimes.'
-"The Phone Rings Sometimes" by Patricia Smith
Overall, this is a really strong poetry collection from the formerly and currently incarcerated as well as others who have been directly or indirectly affected by our criminal legal system.
Some of the poems and pieces were definitely stronger than others. I'm typically more of a traditionalist when it comes to poetry style, but I still enjoyed some of the more avant garde pieces in this collection.
But still, this is a great collection reflecting on the structural violence of prisons, immigration detention. I've read a lot of nonfiction about these topics - I think it's worthwhile to take time to reflect on this from a more creative vantage point, which this does well.
April 25, 2025
Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration by Diana Marie Delgado
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
5.0
An impactful book of poetry!
💕 DIVERSE & INNOVATIVE POETIC FORMS
💕 STRONG AND POWERFUL POETRY
💕 SPEAKS OUT AGAINST INJUSTICE
💕 COHESIVE THEMES
💕 FEATURES SOME OF MY FAVOURITE CONTEMPORARY POETS
IDEAL READER ⭐️:
⭐️ A READER WHO LIKES READING A VARIETY OF POETIC FORMS
⭐️READER LOOKING FOR AN IMPACTFUL BOOK
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
5.0
An impactful book of poetry!
💕 DIVERSE & INNOVATIVE POETIC FORMS
💕 STRONG AND POWERFUL POETRY
💕 SPEAKS OUT AGAINST INJUSTICE
💕 COHESIVE THEMES
💕 FEATURES SOME OF MY FAVOURITE CONTEMPORARY POETS
IDEAL READER ⭐️:
⭐️ A READER WHO LIKES READING A VARIETY OF POETIC FORMS
⭐️READER LOOKING FOR AN IMPACTFUL BOOK
February 11, 2025
I love an anthology, and I love the different voices and styles that are sampled throughout this one. I think this is a really interesting and honestly understandable way of communicating different experiences in the american prison industrial complex. I really enjoyed the poems, even when they were difficult to read.
Thanks for the ARC
Thanks for the ARC
June 11, 2025
So impressed by the care in compiling this collection, and even more impressed by the structural experimentation of so many of these pieces. It’s almost jarring to move from poem to poem, and that feels very deliberate in its organization.
July 1, 2025
From Vanessa Angélica Villarreal is poem "Architect 3":
"The trick
of the Enlightenment is how its sciences
rationalize atrocities in the colonies, but
will be praised for the modern marvel
of the architecture."
This book made me cry.
"The trick
of the Enlightenment is how its sciences
rationalize atrocities in the colonies, but
will be praised for the modern marvel
of the architecture."
This book made me cry.
January 13, 2026
some of these poems worked better for me than others, but this is an overall solid collection that I highly recommend for the last poem alone.
content warnings: child death, racism, references to drug use
content warnings: child death, racism, references to drug use
June 15, 2025
Powerful.
November 17, 2025
There is nothing more hurtful then reading an amazing poem and then later reading that the poet is imprisoned.
November 18, 2025
Really well edited. Rips the already flimsy mask off of our for-profit prison industrial complex and reveals the toll on real people.
January 5, 2026
great anthology. essential abolition reading i think
January 1, 2025
Absolutely amazingly put together anthology that does have a focus on mass incarceration, but isn't solely about misery, and focuses on community and solidarity within and without, and even includes an epic poem detailing how closely mass incarceration and America are intertwined. Pick this up this winter.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews