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A review by kell_xavi
Amanda Paradise by C.A. Conrad
4.5
I love Conrad’s writing. Here, they write about the COVID-19 pandemic with reflection on the AIDS epidemic, responses to both and the grief and ghosts that come with death. A theme in this work is the destruction of nature and human lives, through corporations, capitalism, government policies and patriarchal ideologies. They also write often about love, how worthwhile it is, how necessary, and the wind as a force that can be touched and can move us.
Like the first collection of theirs I read, I wasn’t moved by every individual piece, but I could see Conrad building a framework of ritual, of love and intention through poetry and story and memory. The motifs, the thematic resonance, the narrative that expands to show more of their life and of human life, carries a strength and wonderment with it. Many of the 72 variations are simple and short poems, and the collection as a whole was more accessible than Ecodeviance, but these poems are artistic and haunting at many times, as well.
Like the first collection of theirs I read, I wasn’t moved by every individual piece, but I could see Conrad building a framework of ritual, of love and intention through poetry and story and memory. The motifs, the thematic resonance, the narrative that expands to show more of their life and of human life, carries a strength and wonderment with it. Many of the 72 variations are simple and short poems, and the collection as a whole was more accessible than Ecodeviance, but these poems are artistic and haunting at many times, as well.