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decodethebooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.25
this is a beautifully written poetry collection that weaves through the authors life and experiences.
Rachel Long delves into girlhood, womenhood (the pressure, the want, and the waning), being a person with a womb, being being biracial, being darker skinned, being African, being a daughter, being a brown daughter, being a daughter of a black African mother, being a daughter of a white father, being raised in a white Britian, being a Chrisitan, being someone who believes in ancestral spiritual magic, in being a sister, being a friend, being lover, being a sexual being.
a few quotes from the poems that I like:
from Hotel Art, Barcelona
- “Contorting myself three ways in the toilet mirror,
I decide I won’t look like this forever.
I don’t even look like this now.”
from Psalm 51:7*
-“wash me and i shall be whiter than touched by the hand of his clock i am instantly older”
from The Garden
- “Go, now. Fasten the black veil
though no woman has shown you how.”
- “Beg forgiveness for the thing you haven’t done yet.
Say the prayer to rid you of bloom.
Say it in the tongue your mother might’ve taught you.
Who will you be this time around?”
from The Yearner
- “A part of me is dead. Now
I can shake my own hand,
meet myself again for the first time.”
- “I am another.
Promise? This time will be different.”
from Red Hoover
- “Don’t tell me
you’ve ruined it already”
from Mum’s Snake*
- “Hair is a crowning glory.
A source of not only beauty but power.”
- “Lord deliver me. My enemies wage war against me.”
from And then there was the time I got into a fight
-“his real brown daughter.”
from Wire
- “so manageable, such a quiet curl.”
from Inside
- “A diary
isnt a diary till
you won;t show anyone.”
- “Jehovah, if you save me I will-”
from Divine Healing
-“She’d forgotten the language
of her girlhood, but there, on the floor, remembered
three words and repeated, Amin, Jesu Kristi.”
from Night
-“You knew, somehow,
that to die was to be hungry.”
from Communion
- “Behold the miracle of afro hair
Blackness so complete
you could put your hand in,
never get it back.”
- “Girl, you’re the blackest you will ever be in here,
stop pulling away”
* the poems with asterisks are my favourite ones
other favourites (that were not quoted above):
- Bike
- Orb
- Helena
- Black Princess! Black Princess!
** i have to mention that the audiobook contained two additional poems that were not in the ebook. i don't have an explanation for this. these two poems were The Sharks and Victoria Beckham and The Sunflower**
Would I recommend this book??
Yes, I would recommend this beautiful poetry book.
Will I re-read this book?
If I acquire a physical copy, then I would re-read this, yes.
Rachel Long delves into girlhood, womenhood (the pressure, the want, and the waning), being a person with a womb, being being biracial, being darker skinned, being African, being a daughter, being a brown daughter, being a daughter of a black African mother, being a daughter of a white father, being raised in a white Britian, being a Chrisitan, being someone who believes in ancestral spiritual magic, in being a sister, being a friend, being lover, being a sexual being.
a few quotes from the poems that I like:
from Hotel Art, Barcelona
- “Contorting myself three ways in the toilet mirror,
I decide I won’t look like this forever.
I don’t even look like this now.”
from Psalm 51:7*
-“wash me and i shall be whiter than touched by the hand of his clock i am instantly older”
from The Garden
- “Go, now. Fasten the black veil
though no woman has shown you how.”
- “Beg forgiveness for the thing you haven’t done yet.
Say the prayer to rid you of bloom.
Say it in the tongue your mother might’ve taught you.
Who will you be this time around?”
from The Yearner
- “A part of me is dead. Now
I can shake my own hand,
meet myself again for the first time.”
- “I am another.
Promise? This time will be different.”
from Red Hoover
- “Don’t tell me
you’ve ruined it already”
from Mum’s Snake*
- “Hair is a crowning glory.
A source of not only beauty but power.”
- “Lord deliver me. My enemies wage war against me.”
from And then there was the time I got into a fight
-“his real brown daughter.”
from Wire
- “so manageable, such a quiet curl.”
from Inside
- “A diary
isnt a diary till
you won;t show anyone.”
- “Jehovah, if you save me I will-”
from Divine Healing
-“She’d forgotten the language
of her girlhood, but there, on the floor, remembered
three words and repeated, Amin, Jesu Kristi.”
from Night
-“You knew, somehow,
that to die was to be hungry.”
from Communion
- “Behold the miracle of afro hair
Blackness so complete
you could put your hand in,
never get it back.”
- “Girl, you’re the blackest you will ever be in here,
stop pulling away”
* the poems with asterisks are my favourite ones
other favourites (that were not quoted above):
- Bike
- Orb
- Helena
- Black Princess! Black Princess!
** i have to mention that the audiobook contained two additional poems that were not in the ebook. i don't have an explanation for this. these two poems were The Sharks and Victoria Beckham and The Sunflower**
Would I recommend this book??
Yes, I would recommend this beautiful poetry book.
Will I re-read this book?
If I acquire a physical copy, then I would re-read this, yes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Abortion
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Pregnancy, and Medical content
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