For three decades, the legacy of the revered writer, editor, performer, and activist Essex Hemphill has been lovingly sustained through xeroxed copies of his few published works—as potent now as they were in the 1980s. With tenderness and rage, Hemphill’s poems unflinchingly explore the complex, overlapping identities, the American political landscape, and his own experiences as a black gay man during the AIDS crisis. Love Is a Dangerous Word contains selections from Hemphill’s only published full-length collection, Ceremonies—named one of the 25 most influential works of postwar queer literature by the New York Times—alongside rarely seen poems from magazines, chapbooks, and Hemphill's literary archive. It serves as both an introduction to Hemphill’s poetic prowess and a treasure trove for those who have long awaited his return to the literary spotlight.