Reviews

Love Poems by Diane Wood Middlebrook, Anne Sexton

emilydugranrut's review against another edition

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4.0

"I give you back your heart.
I give you permission —

for the fuse inside her, throbbing
angrily in the dirt, for the bitch in her
and the burying of her would —
for the burying of her small red wound alive —

for the pale flickering flare under her ribs,
for the drunken sailor who waits in her left pulse,
for the mother's knee, for the stockings,
for the garter belt, for the call —

the curious call
when you will burrow in arms and breasts
and tug at the orange ribbon in her hair
and answer the call, the curious call.

She is so naked and singular.
She is the sum of yourself and your dream.
Climb her like a monument, step after step.
She is solid.

As for me, I am a watercolor.
I wash off.
"

yara_aly's review against another edition

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5.0

While reading this wonderful anthology, all I thought about was how could someone write so delicately and personally about love, relationships, the body, but then it's Anne Sexton, so yeah.

margarete's review against another edition

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4.0

poems that just cut through you cleanly. still exploring work by women that examines bitchiness, wrath, and other emotions and subject matter that is ‘unbecoming’. interesting to contrast sexton with my adoration for plath—similar but very different, plath has a further veneer of composure, i feel, or rather some restraint and haughtiness, while sexton lays everything bare. more sexual, more taboo, for sure.

maryaliceelange's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious fast-paced

4.0

swan_dive's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

5.0

thedreamertrilogy's review against another edition

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4.0

complicated lady

zapzap's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

3.0

agardenofweeds's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

3.5

amandayounglund's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

4.0

milesjmoran's review against another edition

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4.0

My least favourite of Sexton's thus far, Love Poems is still a strong and great collection with rich flares of her brilliance. It was just a shame that a few of these poems didn't quite hit home for me but whenever they did, it was superb.