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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Oftentimes, a collection of poetry is not something I sit with for long. I will read through it quickly, marking lines that resonated with me and then never thinking of them again. Kaveh's work is different. Our experiences on this earth are vastly different, and yet I found myself in almost every single poem; as he grappled with faith, addiction, and identity, I saw my myself beside him. Sometimes I lost the thread and found myself speeding along, but I always was reeled back in. A wonderful short collection for those looking for an up-and-coming poet and (now!!) novelist.
"It’s serious business, this living.
As long as the earth continues
its stony breathing, I will breathe.
When it stops, I will shatter back
into gravity. Into quartz."
— Rimrock
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
"you arrive home after a long day to discover your children have grown suddenly hideous and unlovable."
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
" there is a pond I leapt into once with a lonely blonde boy
when we scampered out one of us was in love
I could not be held responsible for desire he could not be held at all "
when we scampered out one of us was in love
I could not be held responsible for desire he could not be held at all "
I came across the poem I Won't Lie This Plague of Gratitude on instagram a long time ago and that poem rattled around in my brain for so long that I finally searched up the author and picked this up. Glad I did, I loved this.
[4.5]
“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 thinking if it had a name it would have a solution thinking if I called a wolf a wolf I might dull its fangs I carried the coldness like a diamond for years holding it close near as blood until one day I woke and it was fully inside me both of us ruined and unrecognizable two coins on a train track the train crushed into one”
This clicked with me right away and im profoundly obsessed.
Side note: stop stealing from my journal
“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 thinking if it had a name it would have a solution thinking if I called a wolf a wolf I might dull its fangs I carried the coldness like a diamond for years holding it close near as blood until one day I woke and it was fully inside me both of us ruined and unrecognizable two coins on a train track the train crushed into one”
This clicked with me right away and im profoundly obsessed.
Side note: stop stealing from my journal
What a wonderful book with phenomenal writing. I was highlighting some beautiful line from almost every page and I absolutely enjoyed this book. It's one of my favorite poetry books ever.
"I’ve given this coldness many names thinking if it had a name it would have a solution thinking if I called a wolf a wolf I might dull its fangs"
" may we measure every victory by the momentary absence of pain"
" even a lobster climbs away from its shell a few times a life but every time I open my eyes I find I am still inside myself each epiphany dull and familiar"
" The countdown to the next major miracle is on. Till then, I’ll manage less and less."
" what you lack and the punishment for your lacking are the same"
" I lack nothing I need unless you count everything I want"
" When I wake, I ask God to slide into my head quickly before I do."
" one way to live a life is to spend each moment asking forgiveness for the last
it seems to me the significance of remorse would deflate with each performance"
" it’s a long drive into manhood but such a short walk out"
These are not even half the gems I found scattered throughout the book. It was simply an awe-inspiring experience to read through and in between the lines of this book. Kudos to the poet!
"I’ve given this coldness many names thinking if it had a name it would have a solution thinking if I called a wolf a wolf I might dull its fangs"
" may we measure every victory by the momentary absence of pain"
" even a lobster climbs away from its shell a few times a life but every time I open my eyes I find I am still inside myself each epiphany dull and familiar"
" The countdown to the next major miracle is on. Till then, I’ll manage less and less."
" what you lack and the punishment for your lacking are the same"
" I lack nothing I need unless you count everything I want"
" When I wake, I ask God to slide into my head quickly before I do."
" one way to live a life is to spend each moment asking forgiveness for the last
it seems to me the significance of remorse would deflate with each performance"
" it’s a long drive into manhood but such a short walk out"
These are not even half the gems I found scattered throughout the book. It was simply an awe-inspiring experience to read through and in between the lines of this book. Kudos to the poet!
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
"Right now our moon looks like a pale cabbage rose. / Delam barat tang shodeh. / We are forever folding into the night. / Shab bekheir."
"it's a myth / that love lives in the heart it lives in the throat we push it out / when we speak when we gasp we take a little for ourselves"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. / This may be me at my best."
"I always wanted to be a saint / but I thought I'd be one of the miserable / ones sainted by pain burnt alive inside / a brazen bull instead I weep openly at obnoxious / beauty"
"it's a myth / that love lives in the heart it lives in the throat we push it out / when we speak when we gasp we take a little for ourselves"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. / This may be me at my best."
"I always wanted to be a saint / but I thought I'd be one of the miserable / ones sainted by pain burnt alive inside / a brazen bull instead I weep openly at obnoxious / beauty"