Happy 2019 everybody. Imagine my surprise during the holidays when I discovered that my sci-fi poem “I Sing The Lady Electric” is eligible for a 2019 Rhysling award. Fiyah Lit magazine, who exclusively publishes Black sci-fi and fantasy writers, tweeted about the award eligible work they published in 2018.

My poem was published in the July issue of Fiyah, issue 7: Music. I was immensely honored to have my poem featured alongside fantastic writers such as Sheree Renee Thomas, whose work I admire greatly. I was also happy to have a speculative fiction magazine who picked a theme that suited the poem perfectly.

In July 2018, SFF reviewer Charles Payseur said some kind words about my poem on his review of issue 7: “For me this poem is a celebration and a dance, the narrator getting into a groove that might be like a runway, Cindi waving them on, running them through the preflight so that they are ready to fly. To reach escape velocity from the ground, from the restrictions telling them that they can’t, or shouldn’t be who they are.”

Although anyone can nominate a sci-fi, fantasy, or horror poem from the previous year for a Rhysling award, only members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association can choose who wins. I hope that any member of the SFPA will consider my poem for the award, because writing “I Sing The Lady Electric” was a cathartic, exhilarating experience that I will always cherish.