Scan barcode
bloomerism's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
4.5
But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep
for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless:
I am living, I remember you.
Fantastic, amazing, no notes. This is exactly the kind of quietly impactful poetry that I enjoy. You have to give it time to settle in after reading it and then it just gets better as you stew on it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Child abuse, and Medical trauma
casparb's review against another edition
back! to marie I felt I wanted a refresher and she's still very painful! And o my I missed Practicing . felt a big whitman bloom this time though I have a feeling I'll soon disagree with that. anyway she's very impressive, a narrative
2022
this is the Hurt kind of poetry it aches and sways I like Marie she does well and the Sharon Olds comparison doesn’t seem to me misplaced. The collection reads through heaves of grief & faith and achieves as SO does. approval. Highlights are the remarkable queer poem Practicing & Wanting A Child & Prayer
2022
this is the Hurt kind of poetry it aches and sways I like Marie she does well and the Sharon Olds comparison doesn’t seem to me misplaced. The collection reads through heaves of grief & faith and achieves as SO does. approval. Highlights are the remarkable queer poem Practicing & Wanting A Child & Prayer
laila4343's review against another edition
These poems are a gut punch but really good.
mary_soon_lee's review against another edition
This is a short poetry collection of poems that appear to be autographical. Many of the individual poems are good. Together they are more than the sum of their parts. They evoke a density of experience in a few lines. Much of the content is dark -- abuse, illness, death, grief, separation. This darkness is offset by compassion, love, mentions of the natural world, yet it remains.
The poetry, as poetry, is effective without being ostentatious. The lines are often long, the phrasing close to narrative prose. But the condensing of weight into brevity, the intensity, is masterful.
To me, these poems, taken collectively, speak of how we walk around with the weight of the deaths of people we've loved in the background, sometimes muted, sometimes coming into focus. It's well done. It moved me. Nonetheless, greedily, and because there's a lot of darkness in the world at the moment, I found myself craving more lightness.
My two favorites among the poems were "A Certain Light" and "Without Music," though that opionion's subject to change. There were many good poems.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved). In the case of poetry books, for various reasons, I often omit a rating altogether.
The poetry, as poetry, is effective without being ostentatious. The lines are often long, the phrasing close to narrative prose. But the condensing of weight into brevity, the intensity, is masterful.
To me, these poems, taken collectively, speak of how we walk around with the weight of the deaths of people we've loved in the background, sometimes muted, sometimes coming into focus. It's well done. It moved me. Nonetheless, greedily, and because there's a lot of darkness in the world at the moment, I found myself craving more lightness.
My two favorites among the poems were "A Certain Light" and "Without Music," though that opionion's subject to change. There were many good poems.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved). In the case of poetry books, for various reasons, I often omit a rating altogether.