A review by mgreco5
Kingdom Animalia by Aracelis Girmay

5.0

Phenomenal! I just love Ara's expansiveness...this book includes so much: self-reflection, family history, nature, dirt. For me, the line that sums up the book is "I want to know what to do/with the dead things we carry" from her poem "This Morning the Small Bird Brought a Message from the Other Side." These "dead things" are not just literal; they can be lost relationships, lost items, Aracelis' childhood self. And she carries them everywhere. They are ever-present. This book is at once haunting and beautiful.