"The American empire is not your friend.

It is not sweet apple pie,

smiling, big buxom blondes,

and nonstop football and baseball games."

Known for conveying hard truths in exquisitely passionate tones, Dr. Lateef Mcleod leads the reader through a panoply of incremental enlightenments, humanity at its center -- the author's breath, his subjects' souls. The reader becomes a witness to existential intricacies woven into a web of love, politics and flesh.

Dr. McLeod is the author of three books of poetry, including his striking debut, A Declaration of a Body of Love, and a novel. He has co-authored several anthologies and scholarly publications.