While Michael T. Young's parents weren’t racist, many on both sides of his family were. Over the last few years, he's attempted to articulate the consequences of that. This poem grapples with white privilege, specifically how those who benefit from it may be blind to it. It takes a willed intention to see the injustice of a system that is designed to benefit your group of people.
His third full-length collection, The Infinite Doctrine of Water, was longlisted for the Julie Suk Award. Previous collections are The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost and Transcriptions of Daylight. He received a Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. His chapbook, Living in the Counterpoint, received the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award. Michael’s poetry has been featured on Verse Daily and The Writer’s Almanac. It has also appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals including Gargoyle Magazine, One, RATTLE, Talking River Review, and Valparaiso Poetry Review.
