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Raw to the bone, stop you in your tracks, shake your head in awe and despair and astonishment. Here are poems that will cling to your ribs and keep you warm when there's nothing else to dull the overwhelming buzzing in your head.
A really beautiful book that likes to take risk with the formatting of the poem on the page. I enjoyed the rich material it contained and I want to read the chapbook that “Portrait of an alcoholic” came from as to see how they differently when they’re together rather than spread out here. A lot of lines that’ll stick with me and definitely a wonderful read that I hope to return.
It’s difficult to be anything at all with the whole world right here for the having.
I came to speak about luck but I fear dismantling what is already
simple so I will say only that if you are fortunate enough to have
a body you shouldn’t leave it lying wet on the floor where anyone
could shred it to bits it is worth treating well
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.5/5 This was a gorgeous book of poetry and one of the best that I have read; I don’t believe any of the book was a waste though it did seem pretty lengthy. I met the author last year and I didn’t even know he was an author! He was very nice from the beginning and even signed this book for me.
Now back to the book itself, the poems all are expertly written and Kaveh makes his greatest fears and most haunting memories into his treasury of work.
Some favorites are “Some Boys Aren’t Born They Bubble,” “A Boy Steps Into The Water,” “An Apology,” “Fugu” and many more.
Now back to the book itself, the poems all are expertly written and Kaveh makes his greatest fears and most haunting memories into his treasury of work.
Some favorites are “Some Boys Aren’t Born They Bubble,” “A Boy Steps Into The Water,” “An Apology,” “Fugu” and many more.
Beautiful poetry, almost unlike anything I've read before.
emotional
reflective
I decided I'm not gonna give star ratings to poetry anymore because I'm simply unable to rate it. Or at least extremely personal collections like this one, because like, who am I to even try to rate this?
Some bits I liked (breaks in the verse I'm just doing with new lines):
"envy is the only deadly sin that's no fun for the sinner
this makes sadness seem more like a tradition
loyalty to a parent's past
I try to find small comforts
purple clover growing in the long grass
a yellow spider on the windowsill
I am less horrible than I could be
I've never set a house on fire
never thrown a firstborn off a bridge
still my whole life I answered every cry for help with a pour
with a turning away
I've given this coldness many names"
- from "Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient)"
"I like it fine, this daily struggle
to not die, to not drink or smoke or snort anything
that might return me to combustibility. Historical problem:
it's harder than you'd think to burn even what's flammable"
- from "Besides, Little Goat, You Can't Just Go Asking for Mercy"
"I swear to God
I swear to God
I won't mention what He does to me
I lack nothing I need unless you count everything I want
I'm meant to be spreading tenderness over the earth like seeds like worms
instead I've been shoveling coal into burning houses"
- from "Thirstiness is not Equal Division"
Some bits I liked (breaks in the verse I'm just doing with new lines):
"envy is the only deadly sin that's no fun for the sinner
this makes sadness seem more like a tradition
loyalty to a parent's past
I try to find small comforts
purple clover growing in the long grass
a yellow spider on the windowsill
I am less horrible than I could be
I've never set a house on fire
never thrown a firstborn off a bridge
still my whole life I answered every cry for help with a pour
with a turning away
I've given this coldness many names"
- from "Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient)"
"I like it fine, this daily struggle
to not die, to not drink or smoke or snort anything
that might return me to combustibility. Historical problem:
it's harder than you'd think to burn even what's flammable"
- from "Besides, Little Goat, You Can't Just Go Asking for Mercy"
"I swear to God
I swear to God
I won't mention what He does to me
I lack nothing I need unless you count everything I want
I'm meant to be spreading tenderness over the earth like seeds like worms
instead I've been shoveling coal into burning houses"
- from "Thirstiness is not Equal Division"
The imagery is piercing and visceral and, while there is a lot of pain present in this poetry, there is also so much brutal beauty in the longing for alcohol, for God and faith, and for life.