of liberty, John A. deSouza

June, 2027

14 pages

In of liberty deSouza interrogates accrued notions of freedom at the Sestercentennial of the founding of the United States of America. The collection utilizes postmodern approaches, including pastiche, catalogue, collage, and polyphony in order to examine defining moments in American history alongside their contemporary implications and ironies. While the focus is ostensibly historical, the work is also deeply concerned with liberty as language. It explores how poetics sits at the core of the American aspirational experiment, as codified in the language of the nation’s founding documents, legal statutes, and legislative decisions. The work subverts received social media phone formats by utilizing 16-line squares of justified text, resembling the familiar format of an Instagram post but uses the square as a constraint to compel attention.

John A. deSouza is the author of the forthcoming collection Concord Ave. Georgics (Broadstone Books, 2027) and five chapbooks, including most recently ‘This Rough Magic’ (Rockwood Press, 2026) and Labyrinth (Bainbridge Island Press, 2026). A 2025 Pushcart nominee and shortlisted for the 2024 Letter Review Prize for books, his recent work has appeared in Half Day Moon Journal, The Dalhousie Review, Abstract Mag/TV, The Courtship of Winds and elsewhere. He lives in Jersey City, NJ. More can be found at linktr.ee/JAdPoetry