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A review by mel_sh
Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
4.0
"For so long every step I've taken has been from one tongue to another"
"I have been so careless with the words I already have."
my first Kaveh Akbar!! i have had him on my list of "need-to-read authors" since before Martyr (his debut novel) was released and now I'm seeing everyone rave about that so i needed to jump on the train fast (i always feel especially ashamed when everyone is reading a book from a persian author and i, a persian, have not read it yet lmao).
i really liked this! the writing is so special and beautiful and the themes are very sad and important. i think some of the meaning was kinda lost on me at times so this collection will have to go to the list of poems i need to reread eventually but i am fully on the kaveh akbar train and cannot wait to consume everything he writes.
it also feels worth noting that, for reasons i cannot fully explain, certain poems about life and death that were written were weirdly triggering to me ? i don't think this is a problem that most - or anybody else - would have but i felt like highlighting that that's kinda why that one star is missing from me. i found myself having to stop reading often cuz the poems were taking me to dark places lmao. absolutely not a criticism of this collection, however !!
"so much of being alive is breaking"
"Will i ever even know
when my work is done? I'm almost
ready to show you the mess I've made.
"I have been so careless with the words I already have."
my first Kaveh Akbar!! i have had him on my list of "need-to-read authors" since before Martyr (his debut novel) was released and now I'm seeing everyone rave about that so i needed to jump on the train fast (i always feel especially ashamed when everyone is reading a book from a persian author and i, a persian, have not read it yet lmao).
i really liked this! the writing is so special and beautiful and the themes are very sad and important. i think some of the meaning was kinda lost on me at times so this collection will have to go to the list of poems i need to reread eventually but i am fully on the kaveh akbar train and cannot wait to consume everything he writes.
it also feels worth noting that, for reasons i cannot fully explain, certain poems about life and death that were written were weirdly triggering to me ? i don't think this is a problem that most - or anybody else - would have but i felt like highlighting that that's kinda why that one star is missing from me. i found myself having to stop reading often cuz the poems were taking me to dark places lmao. absolutely not a criticism of this collection, however !!
"so much of being alive is breaking"
"Will i ever even know
when my work is done? I'm almost
ready to show you the mess I've made.