“Rhea is a poetry presence, a truth-teller and a singer,” Kallet said. “Times are tough, and we can’t get together in person as much as we would like. Rhea has met and overcome many obstacles.

Rhea Carmon, the first African American poet laureate of Knoxville, is a mentor, a motivational speaker and a math teacher. However, she finds herself teaching valuable lessons through her poetry.

Maine poems edited and introduced by Megan Grumbling. Many people every day try to cross the southern U.S. border to safety and better lives. Today’s poem, Rhea Côté Robbins’s “Canada Road ...