A review by jayisreading
Water & Salt by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

Well, this was a stunning poetry collection that will take the reader through an array of feelings ranging from a sense of peace to unrelenting grief. Khalaf Tuffaha, whose heritage is Palestinian, Jordanian, and Syrian, gives the reader a glimpse into Arab life, culture, and memory. Her poignant poems cross geopolitical borders and interweave Arabic and English to create a multisensory experience for the reader that will undoubtedly leave an impact to some degree. Broken into three parts, Khalaf Tuffaha meditates on (im)migration and displacement, writes loving odes to her loved ones and her Arab roots, and unflinchingly draws attention to the violence and suffering in Palestine. While she does cover a wide range of topics, I found that the poems flowed wonderfully from one to the next, ultimately, demonstrating how interconnected these themes are for the poet.

Not a single word goes wasted in this collection, and I truly look forward to reading Khalaf Tuffaha’s other works.

Some favorites: “Upon Arrival,” “Rules for Recitation,” “Immigrant,” “Dhayaa’,” “Circling the Dome of the Sky,” “Eating the Earth,” “Mountain, Stone,” “Running Orders,” “Again and Again,” “Ruin,” “Newsworthy,” “It’s Beirut Out Here,” “Almond Trilogy,” “National Security Advisory,” “Instructions for Making Arabic Coffee,” “My Mother Returns to Her Childhood Home,” “Translation,” “Relocation,” “Time Management,” and “Linger”
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