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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
inspiring
emotional
reflective
I love how Ada Limon uses nature as a lens or a mirror as a means to write about the human condition. Her poetry speaks to me in a lot of ways that other modern poets do not. Her work feels like poetry. It feels pertinent. It’s at once beautiful like a lake on a summer day, yet like all lakes it has its deep, dark areas where the sun never touches, and where the imagination runs away with the possibilities hidden in those depths.
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Beautiful, lyrical, visual, and rhythmic poetry! The different characters, animals, scenery, and reflections were all stirringly conveyed. I enjoyed The Carrying and plan on reading even more of Limón’s work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Infertility, Racism, Dementia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment
This is more like 2 1/2 stars
I’m a fan of poetry but I don’t enjoy reading too much about nature and there was a lot of that in this short collection. I still enjoyed reading this and will definitely check out her other work.
I’m a fan of poetry but I don’t enjoy reading too much about nature and there was a lot of that in this short collection. I still enjoyed reading this and will definitely check out her other work.
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
AND, TOO, THE FOX
Comes with its streak of redflashing across the lawn, squirrelbound and bouncing almostas if it were effortless to hunt,food being an afterthought orjust a little boring. He doesn’tsay a word. Just uses those fourblack feet to silently go abouthis work, which doesn’t seemlike work at all but play. Foxlives on the edges, pieces togethera living out of leftovers and lazyrodents too slow for the telephonepole. He takes only what he needsand lives a life that some mightcall small, has a few friends, likesthe grass when it’s soft and green,never cares how long you watch,never cares what you needwhen you’re watching, never careswhat you do once he is gone.
GLIMPSE
In the bathroom our lastcat comes up to me and purrseven without touch she purrsand there are times I canhold her when no one elsecan hold her. She oncebelonged to my husband’sex-girlfriend who is no longerof the earth and what I’venever told him is that somenights when I touch herI wonder if the cat is feelingmy touch or just rememberingher last owner’s touch. Sheis an ancient cat and prickly.When we are alone I singfull throated in the empty houseand she meows and mewlslike we’ve done this beforebut we haven’t done this before.
TOO CLOSE
Shiny little knives of icehave replaced the grassand yes they seem likeblades now more thanany other time before,they are sharp needleserupting from the groundand poor grass, coveredas it is and so cold. Inthe near distance, a treefalls, or large branches,a roar that sounds asviolent as it is when laterthe poor downed Callery peardivided almost in two,one part of the trunkon the ground and anothersomehow continuing on.I could not do any of thesethings. In winter, a distancegrows, the world wasbreathing, and then suddenlyit was not. Pyrus calleryana breakseasily because it keepsits leaves and is knownto split apart in storms.But haven’t we learned by nowthat just because somethingis bound to breakdoesn’t mean we shouldn’tshiver when it breaks?
Comes with its streak of redflashing across the lawn, squirrelbound and bouncing almostas if it were effortless to hunt,food being an afterthought orjust a little boring. He doesn’tsay a word. Just uses those fourblack feet to silently go abouthis work, which doesn’t seemlike work at all but play. Foxlives on the edges, pieces togethera living out of leftovers and lazyrodents too slow for the telephonepole. He takes only what he needsand lives a life that some mightcall small, has a few friends, likesthe grass when it’s soft and green,never cares how long you watch,never cares what you needwhen you’re watching, never careswhat you do once he is gone.
GLIMPSE
In the bathroom our lastcat comes up to me and purrseven without touch she purrsand there are times I canhold her when no one elsecan hold her. She oncebelonged to my husband’sex-girlfriend who is no longerof the earth and what I’venever told him is that somenights when I touch herI wonder if the cat is feelingmy touch or just rememberingher last owner’s touch. Sheis an ancient cat and prickly.When we are alone I singfull throated in the empty houseand she meows and mewlslike we’ve done this beforebut we haven’t done this before.
TOO CLOSE
Shiny little knives of icehave replaced the grassand yes they seem likeblades now more thanany other time before,they are sharp needleserupting from the groundand poor grass, coveredas it is and so cold. Inthe near distance, a treefalls, or large branches,a roar that sounds asviolent as it is when laterthe poor downed Callery peardivided almost in two,one part of the trunkon the ground and anothersomehow continuing on.I could not do any of thesethings. In winter, a distancegrows, the world wasbreathing, and then suddenlyit was not. Pyrus calleryana breakseasily because it keepsits leaves and is knownto split apart in storms.But haven’t we learned by nowthat just because somethingis bound to breakdoesn’t mean we shouldn’tshiver when it breaks?
Before, the only thing I was interested in was love, how it grips you, how it terrifies you, how it annihilates and resuscitates you. I didn't know then that it wasn't even love that I was interested in but my own suffering. I thought suffering kept things interesting. How funny that I called it love and the whole time it was pain.
and this infinite discourse where everything is interesting because you point it out and say, Isn't that interesting? And how mostly we say, Remember that time, and we will nod because we do remember that time. Except for the few times we've forgotten, like that one time when H was trying to remind us of something and when we asked her what, she said, I don't know, but you were there and I was there. And we were.
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced