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zabeishumanish's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
This is probably the best collection of poems I've ever read. The way they flow into each other just makes sense. The way many of the poems contain references to other poems from later or earlier in the book are stellar little easter eggs to hunt down. Probably one of the most engaging poetry collections I've ever read as well. The four sections of the collection have distinct but interconnected themes. The build-up from section to section is also pretty stand-out. By the time we reach the fourth section, the reader is so engaged with the poet's early life that we feel the same heartache and eagerness the poems carry about that emigrant-to-immigrant experience. That fourth section was a difficult read that I enjoyed far less than the previous sections, but somehow it was still the exact ending this book needed.
Through / the years, I will be healed and saved by women, again and again, but despite this, / the body will seek its lost passion, evade the sex that seared its flesh, the body never forgets.
("The Eye of the Wound", 49)
Stand-out poems in this collection are "The Wedding Photograph", "Watermelon", "My Grandmother, in Increments", "The Scheme of Beauty", "The Eye of the Wound", "Ode to My Mother's Hair", and "The Sock". Honestly, every poem in this collection slaps, some of them made me incredibly uncomfortable, and even they slapped.
I am certain I could never write a poem half as good as the worst poem in this book, but damn does this book make me want to try.
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