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4.54 AVERAGE
4.54 AVERAGE
Me being a magpie, I asked our assistant team leader what books he brought with him on the plane trip to Athens, Greece. He pulled out a few books and showed them to us. This one, for some reason, stood out to me. It was a book of poetry.
Because I couldn't get into the book I had brought, I asked him if I could read his book, and he said sure.
I spent some of the time on that ten-hour flight reading from this book. First I flipped through it and found a remarkable piece. It intrigued me.
Once we got to Athens, we took a seven-hour train ride to Thessaloniki. I finished reading all but three or four poems on that train ride.
Upon returning home, I bought myself a copy of this book so that I could underline my favorite lines with pen.
Tonight, as our missions trip is finished, I read the last few poems.
The writing deals with racial tension and then there are also poems about books and writing and life. I enjoyed the paradoxical pattern that I began to notice in his writing style. It's not in every poem, but there were a few that carried that feeling a little bit, and I saw the world differently.
Would highly recommend this little book to anyone who likes poetry. It reminded me a little bit of A Head full of Flowers and a Heart full of Lies by Miguel Flores, another small poetry book I've read.
Because I couldn't get into the book I had brought, I asked him if I could read his book, and he said sure.
I spent some of the time on that ten-hour flight reading from this book. First I flipped through it and found a remarkable piece. It intrigued me.
Once we got to Athens, we took a seven-hour train ride to Thessaloniki. I finished reading all but three or four poems on that train ride.
Upon returning home, I bought myself a copy of this book so that I could underline my favorite lines with pen.
Tonight, as our missions trip is finished, I read the last few poems.
The writing deals with racial tension and then there are also poems about books and writing and life. I enjoyed the paradoxical pattern that I began to notice in his writing style. It's not in every poem, but there were a few that carried that feeling a little bit, and I saw the world differently.
Would highly recommend this little book to anyone who likes poetry. It reminded me a little bit of A Head full of Flowers and a Heart full of Lies by Miguel Flores, another small poetry book I've read.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
The most recent two poetry collections I read (by Rupi Kaur and Amanda Gorman), I felt like there was some lost potential. There seemed to be room left to explore, and the language failed to hit me, to impact me deeply. I thought maybe my expectations were too high, but this collection proved me wrong. This was brilliant, powerful, and moving. This is what poetry should strive to be.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Some of the poems in this collection hit hard and do what poetry does best - lay bare a truth about the world.
I’ll preface this review with the fact that I am not much of a poetry reader. I’m not a poetry reader at all. But John Green recommended this book and I needed a book of poetry for my reading challenge. It was a very good choice. This book is by a black writer and the poems delve into his experience. In a time when the world needs to step into another’s shoes and see from different points of view, this book did that for me. Beautiful, eloquent, raw and poignant Clint Smith’s poetry helped open my mind and my heart.
“ ...I am the oldest
of three but maybe the most naive, I still believe
we can build this world into something new,
some place where I can live past twenty-five
& it’s not a cause for celebration because these days
I celebrate every breath, tried to start counting
them so I wouldn’t take each one for granted.
I wish I could give my breath to the boys who
had theirs taken, but I’ve stopped counting
Because it feels like there are too many
boys & not enough breath to go around.”
“ ...I am the oldest
of three but maybe the most naive, I still believe
we can build this world into something new,
some place where I can live past twenty-five
& it’s not a cause for celebration because these days
I celebrate every breath, tried to start counting
them so I wouldn’t take each one for granted.
I wish I could give my breath to the boys who
had theirs taken, but I’ve stopped counting
Because it feels like there are too many
boys & not enough breath to go around.”