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anna_m_k's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death and Pregnancy
pajge's review against another edition
4.0
hm. well i bought this collection simply for the poem gate c22–a million stars to that one. and there were other delights within this, bass is incredibly talented, i just don’t think i’m in the right stage of life to truly absorb this. like, this isn’t poetry for high school seniors and that’s fine! it’s great, just not for me. i look forward to picking it up again in the future though, i know i will
its been a couple months since this review and i just picked this book up again, trying to find a poem for an assignment…ended up rereading so many of these. they’re gems! what was i thinking with the original rating? these are so special and lovely…i think i was looking for something very very specific when i first picked up this collection, missing the forest for the trees and all…but wow, i was terribly misguided. these are perfect
its been a couple months since this review and i just picked this book up again, trying to find a poem for an assignment…ended up rereading so many of these. they’re gems! what was i thinking with the original rating? these are so special and lovely…i think i was looking for something very very specific when i first picked up this collection, missing the forest for the trees and all…but wow, i was terribly misguided. these are perfect
inphemeral's review against another edition
5.0
Human capacity for the use of words is really amazing, and the way she tells short stories about her life connects with the reader at a very deep but basic level: We are all human, we all have gone through most of the situations that she describes in her poems. Only, we are not able to describe them so beautifully. We probably haven't even consider that asking for directions in Paris could be turned into poetry, and yet, she does. And expresses it for us. And makes our daily common lives a little bit more meaningful and poetic.
elderwoodreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
A very nice collection. One or two stand outs made it a 4, a decent chunk for me were 3s. Definitely going to reread when the mood takes me back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Medical content and Eating disorder
gay's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
lichenbitten's review against another edition
5.0
"What if you knew you'd be the last
to touch someone?
If you were taking tickets, for example,
at the theater, tearing them,
giving back the ragged stubs,
you might take care to touch that palm,
brush your fingertips
along the life line's crease.
When a man pulls his wheeled suitcase
too slowly through the airport, when
the car in front of me doesn't signal,
when the clerk at the pharmacy
won't say Thank you, I don't remember
they're going to die.
A friend told me she'd been with her aunt.
They'd just had lunch and the waiter,
a young gay man with plum black eyes,
joked as he served the coffee, kissed
her aunt's powdered cheek when they left.
Then they walked half a block and her aunt
dropped dead on the sidewalk.
How close does the dragon's spume
have to come? How wide does the crack
in heaven have to split?
What would people look like
if we could see them as they are,
soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
reckless, pinned against time?"
-- "If You Knew"
to touch someone?
If you were taking tickets, for example,
at the theater, tearing them,
giving back the ragged stubs,
you might take care to touch that palm,
brush your fingertips
along the life line's crease.
When a man pulls his wheeled suitcase
too slowly through the airport, when
the car in front of me doesn't signal,
when the clerk at the pharmacy
won't say Thank you, I don't remember
they're going to die.
A friend told me she'd been with her aunt.
They'd just had lunch and the waiter,
a young gay man with plum black eyes,
joked as he served the coffee, kissed
her aunt's powdered cheek when they left.
Then they walked half a block and her aunt
dropped dead on the sidewalk.
How close does the dragon's spume
have to come? How wide does the crack
in heaven have to split?
What would people look like
if we could see them as they are,
soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
reckless, pinned against time?"
-- "If You Knew"
senid's review against another edition
4.0
I wonder, how poets decide what to write about. This book includes everything. A mother dying, children growing up, climate disasters, scientific advances, bits and pieces of every day suddenly connected to these larger themes. I love the mix of the physical world, minutiae of daily life, and the emotions inside. I enjoy this poet very much.
piccoline's review
5.0
Fantastic collection all around, but the stretch from “If you knew” to “God’s Grief” is powerful, and shows what poetry can pull off.
Wonderful work.
Wonderful work.