This is my favorite poetry collection I've ever read. Thoughts on motherhood Grief Hope Love War Children Anxieties--this poet and I share a lot of the same This is my favorite poetry collection I've ever read. Thoughts on motherhood Grief Hope Love War Children Anxieties--this poet and I share a lot of the same anxieties but she suffers from anxieties that I will never know. It feels so intimate to share in someone's worries and heartbreak...to just let the empathy and sadness be enough I'm thankful to Maya abu Al-Hayyat for this collection. I enjoyed it so much. Her whole heart laid bare. ...more
I had the incredible honor of reading this poetry collection early and writing the introduction. Adrian Ernesto Cepeda is the author of La Belle Ajar,I had the incredible honor of reading this poetry collection early and writing the introduction. Adrian Ernesto Cepeda is the author of La Belle Ajar, a collection of cento poems we included in a Night Worms package in 2020 We Are the Ones Possessed comes to you from a dark place within a grave...thoughts on life, love, sex, and death...Adrian Ernesto Cepeda possesses ...more
FANGED DANDELION is an intimate collection of poems working together to invite readers into a shared safe place to explore dark, intrusive thoughts. ThFANGED DANDELION is an intimate collection of poems working together to invite readers into a shared safe place to explore dark, intrusive thoughts. The author writes, "I am a vile thing..." Can anyone relate? "Father cooks in the kitchen/ slicing a carrot/ snip/ snip/ his finger/ ouch/ I loathe myself for entertaining the thought/ I want to be the one/ holding the knife" A vulnerable expression full of guilt and shame but also pain and a desire to be the one in control of the relationship; the aggressor instead of passive. LaRocca uses the words on these pages to build a bridge between himself and his audience through subtle and oftentimes, not so subtle confessions of unbridled feelings. The result is an exhilarating and provocative experience. This will leave you marinating in your own quiet place of reflection....more
I've read about a dozen dark poetry collections between 2019-2020 and if there is one thing I have learned through practice, it's to go into the colleI've read about a dozen dark poetry collections between 2019-2020 and if there is one thing I have learned through practice, it's to go into the collection with eyes to see and ears to hear. I think as a rookie poetry reader, it's important for me to stay out of the text, at least on the first run. Later, as I browse through the poems again, I look for subtext, symbolism, and potential meanings. If I go into a collection with too much activity going on in my brain, I have a harder time engaging with the poetry.
That being said, BURIALS by Jessica Drake-Thomas is welcoming to everyone. These poems are accessible and relatable. The first one, QUEEN OF STICKS, establishes a strong point of entry for the reader "Meet my lover, / the executioner. / He kills people / for his bread." (30-33)
I loved that at the back of the book, there are some notes from the author about selected poems (pg. 67). For example, the poem, A KIND OF DYING, was written after reading, PERFUME: THE STORK OF A MURDERER by Patrick Süskind-one of my favorite books. It made that particular poem even more menacing the second time I read it. I paid closer attention to words like, "hunts", "smell", "scentless", "specimens". This stood out like a neon sign: "He wraps my body / in fat-soaked silks / to leech away the desire / pouring from my being." (94-98) If you're familiar with the story of PERFUME, this poem brings everything right back and I just loved it! I particularly liked the Love Spells.
The repeated words became a drumbeat. Organic things like roots, dirt, birds, smoke, bones, trees But also inorganic things like texting, houses, carpets, windows, casket, trophy, dumpster and the contrasts started becoming very noticeable-a sweet juxtaposition as organic things rotted, faded, decayed, spoiled...I'm not sure what it all means but all of it made for a rich, cohesive reading experience.
I truly enjoyed this. I would say that a few times, I felt my age. There was a poem that mentioned formals, and I wondered if that was like a prom? And then I questioned if the poetry was for a younger audience...but then I dismissed all of that nonsense and just kept on reading. But that did disrupt my experience for a moment. I'm going to keep reading dark poetry-especially when it's as delicious as this collection....more
'Before you continue into the forest I leave you with a few more thoughts-- --These women deserve rest and peace, and the people that took them away fr'Before you continue into the forest I leave you with a few more thoughts-- --These women deserve rest and peace, and the people that took them away from us deserve to be punished...Justice sometimes takes time, but it is possible."- Cynthia "Cina" Pelayo ... After reading this "Dear Reader" letter from the author, I decided I would go on this journey through the forest and go all the way through. No stopping. So I have done that today and I have just finished. These are my thoughts coming out of the woods.
This collection of poetry is the dedicated work of Cina's hands. The unsolved cases of missing and murdered women clearly have haunted her for a long time. Instead of a posture of passivity, the author has elected to marinate in the pain and suffering long enough to then be able to sit down and bleed these stories onto the page. This is Cina's activism.
As the reader engaging with Cina's work, I felt compelled to share in the suffering. I allowed myself to tap into the emotions that were surfacing, even though typically, my knee-jerk reaction is to tamp those down so that I don't have to feel my feelings too hard. As a mother of two sons and a daughter, I am all too familiar with the fear of losing a child but to lose a child to violence or to not even know what happened to them, is too much to bear.
So this collection is a risk. I hate thinking about these things. I hate opening the door and inviting that kind of vulnerability to myself. But I did it. First, paranoia and anxiety. These words are rife with it. I AM WALKING resonates with all women, pretty much every day. The fear of just being a woman in this world. "The man walks too close behind me/ The man across the street stops and smiles"
SOUR, PATCH, KID made me catch my breath because it reminded me how just letting your child go out from your watchful eyes, your protection, might be the time they don't come home.
THE UNDOING OF A FUTURE DOCTOR- "Mother knew, all mothers know the movements of their children--"
THE DEMONS YOU LIVE WITH- I almost wanted to quit with this one. Age 5. This wrecked me.
SNOW ANGEL- Made me angry. Frustrated.
DOWN THE HILL-Terrifying. The POV of the victims. Like listening to ghosts.
WAVES THREE- and now I'm angry again.
MOVEMENT THROUGH A TELESCOPE- Did someone see something? A witness--this one left so many questions which then led me to wonder about the people who investigate these crimes and disappearances.
THINGS OF CHILDHOOD- and I'm crying again.
DAY AT THE PARK- Age 5 again. Snatched when the mother was distracted for a second. It made me think of all the times my children might have been just within arm's reach of tragedy. How many times? It's a chilling thought that will likely stick around for a while.
MESSAGING YOU--just a few words can be so powerful. This one had my heart pounding.
DISCARD THE WORDS- "High-Risk" the way these labels and buzz words minimize what happened.
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION- a lot of these stories involve some shady behavior on behalf of family members and it really stuck in my craw.
"Our women, our little girls"
This is a heavy read but powerful, necessary, and each title of every poem is like a neon sign. The last emotion I felt when I was finished was urgency. ...more
“We loved with a love that was more than love.” ― Edgar Allen Poe "You and me can write a bad romance." ― Lady Gaga
Well, that was fun! On a whim, I deci“We loved with a love that was more than love.” ― Edgar Allen Poe "You and me can write a bad romance." ― Lady Gaga
Well, that was fun! On a whim, I decided to sit down a read some dark poetry. It was my intention to only read a few poems and then finish up some chores around the house but these are so delectable, I couldn't stop. LOVE FOR SLAUGHTER is a provocative, alluring collection of intimate poems about love, lust, and relationships. At first blush, the violent language is new and intense but then as you read more, it becomes evident that all the cutting and killing and bloodletting are used to express the danger and vulnerability we experience in our love. "...I scream, I love you, kill me. And you echo, I love you, kill me." *Butchery, Sara Tantlinger
I enjoyed some of the imagery I noticed was repeated, like a lover's spine as they sleep next to you. "After he falls asleep, his back towards me, I trace the word killer against his spine with my fingertips, one slow letter at a time dancing across his sleeping skin." *Letters on Your Spine, Sarah Tantlinger
This resonates with me because I have shared a bed with the same man for 23 years this August and still to this day, I contemplate the absolute trust and comfortability I share with him--night after night. Some people are in relationships and they share a bed but they don't have that trust. The vulnerability is so raw. Sara explores these facets of healthy and unhealthy partnerships. Romances. One-Night Stands. Break-ups. I very much enjoyed everything about this collection (especially that cover, Nicholas Day!) I will gladly read more dark, bloody things from Sara Tantlinger....more
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