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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
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.
Not a review. No ratings. Just trying poetry. Very slowly.
Some verses I loved:
sometimes faith feels too far away to be of any use
a distant moon built from the prophets’ holy bones
other times it’s so near I can hold it between my teeth
-from Tassiopeia
The real world doesn’t care about our spiritual conditions,
just asks that we be well enough to smile at its clamor.
-from No is a Complete Sentence
Some verses I loved:
sometimes faith feels too far away to be of any use
a distant moon built from the prophets’ holy bones
other times it’s so near I can hold it between my teeth
-from Tassiopeia
The real world doesn’t care about our spiritual conditions,
just asks that we be well enough to smile at its clamor.
-from No is a Complete Sentence
The thing is, poetry about addiction is old hat. It's honestly not that difficult to weave imagery about the bottle or the needle and make it stick. What Kaveh Akbar has masterfully accomplished is the adrenaline rush and fog-of-war mentality of addiction. The thrill of the satisfaction of the urge, compounded with the sins of comedown, are carefully and meticulously crafted in this collection of urgent poetry. This is not to be missed.
Incredible the entire way through.
Favorite poems: Soot, Wild Pear Tree, Drinkaware Self Report, Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient), Desunt Nonnulla, Wake Me Up When It's My Birthday, What Seems Like Joy, Against Hell, Unburnable The Cold Is Flooding Our Lives, An Apology, God.
Favorite poems: Soot, Wild Pear Tree, Drinkaware Self Report, Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient), Desunt Nonnulla, Wake Me Up When It's My Birthday, What Seems Like Joy, Against Hell, Unburnable The Cold Is Flooding Our Lives, An Apology, God.