Words cannot describe how much I cherish and enjoy these poems. In fact, I don’t feel like I’ll ever be able to write a review that will accurately convey the beauty, the power, and the raw vulnerability.
Summary
These poems are incredibly nuanced, wildly creative, and extremely clever. Dealing with topics such as monstrous women, diaspora babies, and trans-identity, this poem collection couldn’t be published at a more relevant time period. Its diversity, author, and content are much needed in our world where discussions must be had revolving around the substance of these poems. (It doesn’t hurt that the cover of this collection is vivid, complex, and beautiful).
Review
I could go on and on about the subtleties I loved in this collection: the concept of “No Homeland”, the diaspora babies, the violence and power within desire. But this is truly a batch of poems you need to read for yourself. Reading them is a powerful experience. They captivate you immediately, pull you in from your chair, take you on a raw sensory journey, and then dump you out on the other side – already planning your second ride.
All I can really say is: these poems moved me and the beauty of their arrangement gives each word new life. It is absolutely beautiful, full of awareness, conscious of the necessity to take us to that grey zone where discomfort meets growth. Thom takes us to this space again and again, reveling in the uncertainties and painful moments as only the best poets do.
I will leave you with one recommendation: read this poem collection. Read it if you already feel enlightened, because when we become complacent, that’s the exact moment we need a poet like Thom. Pick it up if you feel like your life needs a spark, some words to inspire you, make you inhabit that grey zone. Love it, because even if you think political poems may not be your thing (and by the way, they’re most definitely can be you’re thing) the explorations of the selfishness and misguided love, the painful knowledge yet necessity of loss, will startle you into recognizing yourself in the panes of reflected glass. Treasure it. Read it again and again.
You can buy a copy on Amazon, add it to Goodreads, and go to Thom’s site.
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss.
Discussion
What is your favorite feminist poetry?
Subscribe for more awesome reviews