Poetry that bleeds, heals, and speaks truth.
✨ About the Book
Before I Lie is a debut poetry collection from Dralandra Larkins. It is a lyrical testimony shaped by both personal survival and collective reckoning. This collection is a mosaic of poems, affirmations, art illustrations, and short stories that bear witness to the scars we inherit and the healing we dare to choose. From Black girlhood in South Minneapolis to the frontlines of self-worth, spirituality, and resistance, this book offers an intimate and powerful portrait of what it means to rise from silence. Available now in paperback, eBook, and audiobook formats.
Art illustration from "Before I Lie" in the poem "Walking Altars"
I dress this body
like the altar it’s always been.
We take diamonds
and press them to our teeth,
tattoo them in our mouths
so, we gleam when we speak.
Grins like a crescent moon....
So, if I come through with a twist-out,
a gold grill,
a waist bead,
a septum ring—
silver.
A whole damn altar on my body—
just know:
This ain’t a costume, baby—
I’m not dressed up for you.
This is history in gold—
carved from copper, shells, and wood...
(read the full poem in "Before I Lie")
Book Reviews
"I picked up this book at a local reading, and Dralandra is so talented! Her poetry and stories in this collection are thought-provoking, rhythmic, and insightful. Highly recommend!" -Amy
"Having first heard a few of Dralanda Larkins' poems performed through an online open mic, I immediately knew that I had to read her book. Deeply personal, this is not a book I could simply read. Dralandra's writing is such that I feel every word. While much of my identity and life experience has been different than hers, Dralandra's writing draws me in and makes me to know more - while also motivating me to tell my own story through written word." -Keith P
"An absolute masterpiece. Her words painted such a beautiful picture of raw emotion. Absolutely brilliant . Dralandra I think you for allowing us inside your beautiful mind. I 100 percent recommend “before I lie!" -Anonymous
"I purchased an early copy of Before I Lie at a festival in Minnesota and read it cover to cover. This book is a poetic testimony, a protest, a gospel battlefield, and an altar all in one. Dralandra’s poems carry both street grit and sacred softness, often within the same stanza. That’s no easy feat, but she’s made it her signature. And the illustrations in the book? Chefs kiss." -Alex Anderson
"Larkins' journey to assert her own womanhood is a ‘boomerang-sankofa-response’ to Sojourner Truth’s original call: ‘Ain’t I a Woman?...Her words are carried by rhythm and momentum, conveying a sense of urgency that propels the words beyond the page… Beyond these parallels, there’s also a celebratory reclamation of self that drives the work." Full book review here: Before I Lie review: Dralandra Larkins tells the truth - Sagirah Shashid