This volume seeks to address the conundrum of reading African American poets as racial spokespeople, and to model alternative ways of addressing their work. It examines Yusef Komunyakaa’s literary career and his four most recent volumes of poetry. By addressing Talking Dirty to the Gods, it examines the cues Komunyakaa left for readers through its organization and themes. Other chapters discuss the civil rights movement, the Klan’s presence in the Louisiana of Komunyakaa’s youth, and the war in Vietnam as they appear in Komunyakaa’s work. Angela M. Salas is an Adjunct Research Associate at Southeast Missouri State University.