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vortensity 's review for:
Calling a Wolf a Wolf
by Kaveh Akbar
emotional
This is the best poetry collection I've read since Crush. By that I mean, it's just as emotionally raw just as intentional with its language just as memorable. Akbar's use of language in every poem had me <i>feeling</i> something which are the types of poems that really stick out to me. I kept trying to put this down so I could do other things only to keep picking it back up.
I can't stand the type of insta-poetry that is relatable without depth, which is to say the type that's kept vague enough where of course a lot of people can relate but it's not so specific as to evoke anything real. I want to read poetry that reaches directly into my chest, chokes my heart, and drags it up through my throat kicking and screaming, anything less is just not going to impress me.
This was not necessarily always relatable—though there were definitely lines I related to within it—but it always resonated. There was so much in here where it brought up feelings within me that I'd forgotten I even had.
I think that's why I'm beginning to learn poetry about grief, about generational trauma, about losing your faith despite looking everywhere for it. That's the type of poetry that I now realize speaks to me. And I realize that because of the poems in this collection and the fact that I couldn't put this collection down.
Funnily enough, a quote that makes me think of poetry like this and like Crush is actually from a Watsky song (Moral of the Story to be exact.) "I write 'til my fingers look like a bouquet of roses." It reminds me of poetry and of literary writing that leans poetic (in a way that is deep not in a way that's purple prose) because it feels like the writers' equivalent of shouting until your throat feels harsh and you lose your voice. I could feel that just reading this.
Will likely re-read many times.
I can't stand the type of insta-poetry that is relatable without depth, which is to say the type that's kept vague enough where of course a lot of people can relate but it's not so specific as to evoke anything real. I want to read poetry that reaches directly into my chest, chokes my heart, and drags it up through my throat kicking and screaming, anything less is just not going to impress me.
This was not necessarily always relatable—though there were definitely lines I related to within it—but it always resonated. There was so much in here where it brought up feelings within me that I'd forgotten I even had.
I think that's why I'm beginning to learn poetry about grief, about generational trauma, about losing your faith despite looking everywhere for it. That's the type of poetry that I now realize speaks to me. And I realize that because of the poems in this collection and the fact that I couldn't put this collection down.
Funnily enough, a quote that makes me think of poetry like this and like Crush is actually from a Watsky song (Moral of the Story to be exact.) "I write 'til my fingers look like a bouquet of roses." It reminds me of poetry and of literary writing that leans poetic (in a way that is deep not in a way that's purple prose) because it feels like the writers' equivalent of shouting until your throat feels harsh and you lose your voice. I could feel that just reading this.
Will likely re-read many times.