"the main reason i take such issue with della hicks wilson and their plagiarism of my work, among the many other implied reasons regarding someone seeking to mimic your art, is that i do not view poetry as an linguistic medium only. for me. it is also very visual and illustrative. i don’t approach poetry with limits. or do’s and don’ts. and i consciously employ all the spaces of my artistry, when I’m writing, to create not only a feeling, but a picture. for me, it must be as powerful and soft. raw and large. tender and high. on the page as it can be. that is why i use my creativity so deeply, to convey ways to do this. what this artist is doing in plagiarizing my work, is taking my ecstatic discoveries. my intimate conversations between my creativity and myself. my four am digging. my consistent and constant nurturing of my art. the work behind my work, and seeking to make it theirs. to cash in. to piggyback off of a life and energy that is not their own. i think this artist is talented. i think it’s a travesty to waste their talent by leaving their own voice off to the side, to adopt someone else’s. and while i can see their talent, i can also see the violence in the way they practice their craft. just because you are from another country does not mean you can plagiarize someone’s work from afar and pass it off as your own. to consistently plagiarize someone’s work without a care, is not in any way a benign act. it is a carving. a sharp bladed thing. an act of intentional disrespect against me, and not something i am prepared to let go unnoticed. - nayyirah"