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A review by cstefko
How to Love the Empty Air by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
4.0
3.5 stars
I didn't love every poem, but man, did I cry buckets of tears reading this collection. About halfway through I started ugly crying and pretty much never stopped. This is because Aptowicz's collection deals predominantly with the grief of losing her mother. I am very close to my own mother, and even the thought of one day losing her is enough to upset me. Honestly, just trying to go back and find some lines to quote for this review is making me emotional! So for sheer emotional impact, I give this collection a big thumbs up. Where I was less impressed was with its technique... I particularly disliked the texting poems--they just struck me as lazy, harsh as that is to say. Several of the poems verged on Instapoet territory for me--though I guess Aptowicz is known for being a slam poet, a subset of poetry that I've always had an ambivalence towards. I mean, I think it can be done well, but so often it feels cheap to me (if I wanted to get meta about it, I think it's because my natural state is one of aloofness and actively trying not to appear earnest...). There will be individual lines that soar, but the entirety of the poem fails to come together in any coherent way. I like to feel like a poem is in conversation with the reader, but I don't want it to literally read like a conversation... like the poet is just talking. Idk. I guess this is turning into a debate with myself about what poetry is and what counts and what doesn't, and I didn't intend for this review to end up so harsh, so I'll get back to the things I did like. I liked the poems early on in the book about the mundanity of being a writer, her gratitude for her writing residency, and her mother's pride in her writing. I did feel a certain kinship with Aptowicz because I related to her sensitive nature and expressions of imposter syndrome. I'm rounding up for my star rating, because ultimately I felt a strong emotional connection to this collection, and I'm glad I read it.
tldr; I wasn't always in love with the craft of the poems, but many of them are moving and well worth your time.
I didn't love every poem, but man, did I cry buckets of tears reading this collection. About halfway through I started ugly crying and pretty much never stopped. This is because Aptowicz's collection deals predominantly with the grief of losing her mother. I am very close to my own mother, and even the thought of one day losing her is enough to upset me. Honestly, just trying to go back and find some lines to quote for this review is making me emotional! So for sheer emotional impact, I give this collection a big thumbs up. Where I was less impressed was with its technique... I particularly disliked the texting poems--they just struck me as lazy, harsh as that is to say. Several of the poems verged on Instapoet territory for me--though I guess Aptowicz is known for being a slam poet, a subset of poetry that I've always had an ambivalence towards. I mean, I think it can be done well, but so often it feels cheap to me (if I wanted to get meta about it, I think it's because my natural state is one of aloofness and actively trying not to appear earnest...). There will be individual lines that soar, but the entirety of the poem fails to come together in any coherent way. I like to feel like a poem is in conversation with the reader, but I don't want it to literally read like a conversation... like the poet is just talking. Idk. I guess this is turning into a debate with myself about what poetry is and what counts and what doesn't, and I didn't intend for this review to end up so harsh, so I'll get back to the things I did like. I liked the poems early on in the book about the mundanity of being a writer, her gratitude for her writing residency, and her mother's pride in her writing. I did feel a certain kinship with Aptowicz because I related to her sensitive nature and expressions of imposter syndrome. I'm rounding up for my star rating, because ultimately I felt a strong emotional connection to this collection, and I'm glad I read it.
tldr; I wasn't always in love with the craft of the poems, but many of them are moving and well worth your time.