yaaagirlcait 's review for:

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

5.0

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This library hold was worth the wait! This is a (social) justice collection of poems with themes of tragedy, grief, hope, healing, and change. There is an emphasis on the Covid-19 pandemic. Gorman includes bits about other American tragedies including climate change, gun violence, police brutality, the AIDS epidemic, the slain and stealing of indigenous people/land, black migration north to escape the Jim Crow south. Gorman’s poetic craft is awe-inspiring and quite frankly, just impeccable. Her play on words, alliteration, rhyming, it’s a true art. Looking through the “Notes” section shows writing poetry is more than colorfully creating phrases that rhyme. It requires empirical research and revisiting other works of art (she calls on Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou). She pulls inspiration for each poem from a historical or current event/idea (even a Rihanna song). A thought-provoking piece written in a well-crafted way.