Testament I: The Life and Death of Savion Cortez

Originally published in 2011 as a companion to the Potomac University novels Lazarus, Covenant, and Epiphany, The Life and Death of Savion Cortez has been revised for inclusion in The Testaments 1995-2025, Rashid Darden’s eight-volume collection of poetry spanning three decades.

The poems in this volume were written during the author’s early adulthood and explore love, identity, friendship, memory, and belonging. They introduce many of the themes that continue throughout The Testaments while preserving the perspective of a young poet. Read together, they provide an opening chapter to a body of work that traces one life across thirty years.

One life. Eight books. Thirty years of poetry.