Does Your House Have Lions ?

The poetic blend of compassion and outrage that have marked Sonia Sanchez's political writing since the 1960s shines through this very personal account of a family's tragedy. The poems trace the story of Sanchez's brother: his alienation from his family, his struggle with HIV, and the family's eventual healing. Sanchez spins these lines in the voices of all the family members, as well as ancestors. The narrative takes on the elevated tone of Greek tragedy, or maybe the more solemn works of Wole Soyinka, and gives some sense of how overwhelming, painful, and powerful family bonds can be. June Jordan writes that this book joins Sanchez's "best poetry to her deepest feelings."