Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood by Tiana Clark

1 review

ceallaighsbooks's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
“all    I       hear      is your name falling / & beating   Kalief       Kalief       KaliefKaliefKalief / this is such a poor offering but I am pouring it on the ground / like good rain & whatever softens the earth is your name / whatever might grow from that darkening bright spot is your name…

“& Kalief / what is there to say / after so much rain / the ground is swollen with your name”
— from “800 Days: Libation”

TITLE—I Can’t Talk About the Trees Without the Blood
AUTHOR—Tiana Clark
PUBLISHED—2018

“How do we stand on the dead and smile? I carry so many black souls / in my skin, sometimes I swear it vibrates, like a tuning fork when struck.” — from “Soil Horizon”

GENRE—poetry
MAIN THEMES—the Black experience, Black culture, biracial identity, sex, racism, the South, Christianity, parental relationships, art, trauma

“I was crushed. I am crushing / the flood, overwhelming. What now? / There is a dead cockroach in the corner. / I won’t pick it up. I keep sweeping / (around) / the thing on the floor.” — from “Dead Bug”

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—n/a
PLOT—n/a
BONUS ELEMENT/S— the poem after Nina Simone (one of my favorite musicians) was my favorite! I also loved the poem about Kalief Browder 😔, and “Soil Horizon” and “Dead Bug.”
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

These poems were definitely not a comfortable read but Clark’s voice, raw feeling, and brutal forthrightness along with her gorgeous command of language and poetic structure made the journey well worth the pain.
 
“You have to stay mad / your whole damn life.” — from “The Rime of Nina Simone”

TW // racism, racial slurs, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual violence, religious bigotry

Further Reading—
  • Equilibrium, by Tiana Clark
  • Collected Poems: 1950-2012, by Adrienne Rich
  • Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
  • In the Mecca, by Gwendolyn Brooks
  • The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks
  • Complete Writings, by Phillis Wheatley
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...