Passion as defined by Webster is "Emotion as distinguished from reason … affection … suffering … sexual desire." June Jordan's latest book of poems [Passion] deals with all of these emotions and a few more. It is a book that hurts sometimes because passion isn't always sweet. Yet it's necessary; as necessary as realizing the amount of violence that exists right now in so many of our communities, as necessary as humor.

June has demonstrated her creativity so well in this new book, her ability to see beyond the surface and cause us to react. In "A Poem About Intelligence For My Brothers And Sisters" … June confronts us with the limitations of intelligence, makes us think about the whole issue of being a genius; like who are they beyond their area of expertise, who can tolerate them personally and how did they get on the pedestal in the first place?

Violence...