I like her. Her poetry moves through so many levels, it's funny, stark, thoughtful, playful, beautiful, heart-stopping. The range is wonderful and I'vI like her. Her poetry moves through so many levels, it's funny, stark, thoughtful, playful, beautiful, heart-stopping. The range is wonderful and I've never actually read another poet who feels so real. No artifice here. She sort of holds it all lightly. I look forward to reading more....more
Regardless of having served a mission for the LDS church in Hawaii in the early 1990's, I knew next to nothing about Hawaiian history or poetry. It maRegardless of having served a mission for the LDS church in Hawaii in the early 1990's, I knew next to nothing about Hawaiian history or poetry. It made me feel sick, my own ignorance and the missed opportunity of having spent 18 months among Native Hawaiians and, being an arrogant, 21-year-old white "Christian" woman, that I hadn't been curious or thoughtful enough to ask the people I met about their islands, their home. And if they told me, I didn't listen well enough.
So, I went in search of native poets and found Perez-Wendt in the U of H bookstore. Her poems were at once beautiful and horrifying. Revealing the suffering just beneath the glittering surface and woven through the astonishing beauty of Hawaii. Land, lineage and loss ran through every poem. My favorite section was the series of short poems at the end about her mother, though the collection as a whole moved through so many different worlds and languages, it's truly breathtaking.
How to make reparation for the years I participated and the ways I still participate, hopefully less so and not with willful blindness, in the colonization and commodification of these people's stolen land is something I need to sit with. Certainly, if we visit again, it will be with less blindness, less arrogance, more reverence and a desire to see the breadth of reality rather than just the beautiful veneer....more
Chelsea Dingman's gift for image and evocative language is on full display in this stunning collection of poems. I was pulled along on the thin and flChelsea Dingman's gift for image and evocative language is on full display in this stunning collection of poems. I was pulled along on the thin and fluid string of time that moved forward and backward. The visceral grief, sharp anger always expressed through unexpected image. I will certainly return and reread this collection at some point....more
Both on the level of language and subject, I found this collection deeply beautiful. It is a book of poems I will read and re-read. It offers the readBoth on the level of language and subject, I found this collection deeply beautiful. It is a book of poems I will read and re-read. It offers the reader a different model of masculinity. One which our violent world desperately needs, a determined tenderness, clearly hard-won and an ongoing effort, for Geffrey Davis and presents vulnerability (that is accepting imperfection and impermanence as part of human experience) as strength. Every poem blew me away....more
The Odyssey is certainly one of the great works of men. It is a compelling read. The musicality and language is skilled, wonderful even. As a foundatiThe Odyssey is certainly one of the great works of men. It is a compelling read. The musicality and language is skilled, wonderful even. As a foundational text for modern society it is also problematic in the extreme--which is why I only gave it four instead of five stars. I'm processing. I'm processing. I think it may end up being the shit that enriches my creative soil and from which my next large writing project grows. We shall see. I'm reading Emily Wilson's new translation next....more
O! O! O! I will worry the pages of this one over years. I think it is what he's best known for, but the way the verses slow down, speed up and hold tiO! O! O! I will worry the pages of this one over years. I think it is what he's best known for, but the way the verses slow down, speed up and hold time still is amazing. I want to live in these poems. And I plan to read everything else he's ever written....more
Haunting and still at the same time. I could and will spend many days with these poems. I've found another poet I need to read deeply. For me these poHaunting and still at the same time. I could and will spend many days with these poems. I've found another poet I need to read deeply. For me these poems hit the sweet spot between experiment and accessibility. They are poems that need time to settle in the body and mind....more
There were moments that were stunningly beautiful, so I liked it. But, on the whole, it felt a little precious to me. A big name in poetry, who came There were moments that were stunningly beautiful, so I liked it. But, on the whole, it felt a little precious to me. A big name in poetry, who came up through the elite academy with all its social connection, ruminating on the other big names in poetry that he knew at one time or another. Still, the idea that the making of a poem is an end, but ultimately not enough, intrigues me and there were some really wonderful poems. I listened to this one. The reader was horrible so I probably need to get a hard copy and re-read. I plan to give it another chance in print....more
This is a collection I will come back to again and again. It is at once deeply quiet and electric. The moments are often grounded in nature. By the enThis is a collection I will come back to again and again. It is at once deeply quiet and electric. The moments are often grounded in nature. By the end I was marking each poem to re-read. I think this maybe the tradition to which my own writing tends to belong. But I'm afraid it is a little out of fashion in the world of fast, consumable, disruption. Still it was nice to find a voice on the page that felt connected to mine, an auntie of sorts....more
I ran across Kasey Jueds through Twitter's September Women Poets. The poems in this book are clear worlds and moments that capture the state of intensI ran across Kasey Jueds through Twitter's September Women Poets. The poems in this book are clear worlds and moments that capture the state of intense presence. The imagery is lush and her language somehow infused with life. This will be a collection to which I return again and again....more
She is an amazing poet. Every single collection is worth reading both for form, play of language, and the questions she's exploring. I will be readingShe is an amazing poet. Every single collection is worth reading both for form, play of language, and the questions she's exploring. I will be reading all of these, again and again....more
She deserves all her awards. Her poems are sharp and clear and dreamy. Evocative and the language hits the right note nearly every time. It is really She deserves all her awards. Her poems are sharp and clear and dreamy. Evocative and the language hits the right note nearly every time. It is really something. Starting Duende Poems today....more
In Evolving God (Ghost City Press - Micro Chapbook Contest) @writermstone examines the construction and deconstruction of religious/storied identity oIn Evolving God (Ghost City Press - Micro Chapbook Contest) @writermstone examines the construction and deconstruction of religious/storied identity one line at a time, year by year...Tiny, sharp poems that resonate for me as a former Mormon. I came across her on Twitter - which I've curated to be primarily a literary space for me since social media is a fake world anyway. I met M. Stone virtually through September Women Poets....more
I’ve been following Amy's work since we were in class together Light House Writers. At once restrained and explosive her collection, The Eggshell SkulI’ve been following Amy's work since we were in class together Light House Writers. At once restrained and explosive her collection, The Eggshell Skull Rule holds brittle hurts of mother/daughter within its precise constraint and stunning language. ...more
Ada Limon orders words into emotional resonance the way a skilled soprano hits every note. This is a collection of mourning, an acknowledgment of lossAda Limon orders words into emotional resonance the way a skilled soprano hits every note. This is a collection of mourning, an acknowledgment of loss as integral to human experience. In particular the mourning of motherhood as a possibility, a letting go of that desired identity and shared experience. And in this mourning, she becomes the bearer of words and births truth into the world as tender and terrible as any human being. I found this collection deeply moving and beautiful in extent....more
This book is not the kind of poetry I tend to read, less lyrical, image heavy, more conversational and figurative, but I found myself enthralled, turnThis book is not the kind of poetry I tend to read, less lyrical, image heavy, more conversational and figurative, but I found myself enthralled, turning page after page. All human beings are unreliable narrators composing stories about how life will/would be better when/if. It is a sad and funny look at this universal human tendency. I enjoyed reading it and it was thought-provoking and funny. I love the pleasure of exploring unfamiliar texts and styles. This was full of surprise for me. ...more
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