Marrow: Poems

Grape is the sweetest betrayal. There is no removing the stain Of it say moms everywhere & Even if kids choose it last; They choose it, as loyal To its sugar as any.

When authorities converged on the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, known as Jonestown, in Guyana on November 18, 1978, more than 900 members were found dead, the result of murder-suicide. The massacre, led by cult leader James Jim Jones, was the largest mass loss of American lives before September 11, 2001. Yet this event is largely absent in American history. When the mass suicides are remembered, it is usually comically or instructively: Don’t drink the Kool-Aid, as the majority of those who died that day drank or were injected with grape flavored Flavor-Aid.

Much has been documented about this tragic day and how the congregants were killed, yet little is written about the individuals and their lived experiences. In this profound and provocative poetry collection, darlene anita scott corrects that which has been disremembered and honors the people who perished. She elevates and gives voice to the children, teenagers, and adults whose hopes, dreams, and lives were just as hopeful and mundane as any others yet have been overlooked and overshadowed by the other focuses of history. The distinct, haunting, and unforgettable poems in Marrow cut to the bone while also acknowledging and giving tribute to those who died on that fateful day.