Sweet Bone Girl

Sweet Bone Girl examines the intricate dynamics of desire as it intertwines with Black womanhood, negotiating the boundaries of history, culture, and identity. Esme Allman’s evocative poetry moves between the personal and the collective, interlacing the past with the present to investigate how desire is shaped and claimed. With striking introspection, Allman interrogates the influence of external forces-family, lovers, popular culture-and asks: where can desire be truly known? And when it is, can it ever be wholly one’s own? Bold and poignant, Sweet Bone Girl navigates vulnerability, agency, and the yearning for connection in a world that too often seeks to define rather than understand.