A review by kdryan
Inventory by Dionne Brand

5.0

I return to my dog earred and well-marked edition of Inventory frequently - too frequently. Everytime I begin to feel overwhelmed and at risk of allowing massive, horrifying, systemic violence become something I am unaffected by, I return to Brand. I returned to Inventory today, hoping to find the strength I needed in light of all that has happened. Once again, I felt so lucky to have been introduced to this work. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to pick it up, to sit with the discomfort of having deaths rattled off as poetry, to feel struggle settle into a sonnet. And, to be reminded that there are lists of good small things that give us reasons to wake up again tomorrow and continue to demand a world that does not glorify violence.