Reviews

I love it when I come across a poem I've read before in a collection by a poet I thought was new to me, but apparently isn't! "Salmon" was my original entry point for Bates, and it's still one of my favorites from this collection. Other favorites included "Impermanent," "Strawberries," "Sabbath," "Eastern Washington Diptych," and "Rosification."

"Conversation with Mary" is staggeringly sharp. Actually, sharpness is a recurring mood in the whole collection. Bates' poems have an edge to them. Also, some visceral animal horror that almost needs a trigger warning but is extremely effective (see: "'Person' Comes from 'Mask'" as well as the introductory poem, "The Dog."

Some favorite lines from the poem "Mothers":

For a long time, the only part of my poems anyone praised
were the endings

I didn't mind.
The way I understood it, if the ending was good,

it cast goodness back over the whole.
I thought we could be saved at the last minute.

rody_lamoree's review

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dark sad tense medium-paced

The poet writes about such heavy life events, and yet - I cannot feel a single thing from it. Almost like the poems are there to journal what has happened in the most monotone way possible.

itskayleighlove's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

3.0

a_1212's review against another edition

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1.0

~1.75

hundunsan's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

defunctgeorge's review against another edition

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5.0

haven't finished the whole but have read enough, caveat being that I've had to prepare for her being in class but this is a staggering piece of literature. the thing that kept popping into mind: how is she getting away with this?

ed_namode's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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