BookOwl

  5/5 stars *Spoiler alert!* “History is not kind to us We restitch it with living Past memory forward Into desire Into the panic” I have finally read Audre Lorde and I am kicking myself that it took this long! What a treasure I was missing out on. Black feminist queer icon and civil rights activist Audre Lorde has a writing style that is searing, incisive, yet lyrical and graceful. The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde gives readers access to almost all of her work in one powerful volume of activist poetry that blends the real with the mythical. Throughout the volume, we experience history as seen contemporaneously by her, such as the struggle to overthrow the apartheid regime in South Africa and the civil rights fight in America. Even though she is no longer with us (she passed in 1992), her poetry echoes presciently, hauntingly with our present moment, where issues of destructive foreign policy, racism, sexism, homophobia, and discrimination are not ghosts but are still...

  *Spoiler alert!* 4/5 stars The third and final volume of the “Women Are Some Kind of Magic” series reveals that after the deepest, darkest parts of her journey, Lovelace is ready to confront her past and move on. Writing, an essential survival mechanism to start with, has become more of a way to take joy in merely creating. Therefore, the title referencing The Little Mermaid seems very apt here. “Star light/Star bright/First star/I see tonight/I wish I might/Flee my skin/For but a night” The previous lines may indicate that writing is still a survival mechanism for Lovelace—as I’ve pointed out before, writing is many things all at once for different people—but I feel that these words betray also the wonder one finds in the words of another, that allow yourself to experience many lifetimes in your very short one (cosmically speaking). Pure joy and defiance. While I could relate to aspects of Lovelace’s life experience as I read the first two volumes in this series, I real...

  *Spoiler alert!* 4/5 stars The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One is Amanda Lovelace’s second entry in her “Women Are Some Kind of Magic” series. The princess/queen we see in the first book has turned into a witch, out for revenge and full of fire. Because, after she saves herself, the princess has time to confront her demons head-on and that isn’t easy. Healing processes are messy, especially when you’re angry and the world has dealt you some nasty cards. The key is not to be consumed by the anger, but to sit with it and recognize its validity, and make the course corrections needed. Anger merely points out injustice—use it, but don’t make it a perpetual state you exist in. Maybe that’s just my experience. Don’t let it use you. “Yes/I know/All about/The/Woman/Who’s/Been/Screaming/Her whole/Life/For/The chance/To be/Heard/By someone/Take/This pen/From me/& uncage her” The poem I quoted, “You Owe This To Yourself,” made the most impact on me. It reflects my own use of writin...

*Spoilers ahead!* 4/5 stars I have been meaning to get back into poetry for a while now. The Princess Saves Herself in This One is the first entry of poet Amanda Lovelace’s “Women Are Some Kind of Magic” series. This volume was the perfect segue back into poetry for me, and like Amanda Gorman (another awesome poet who happens to share the first name of the author of this book I’m discussing), it will definitely stick around in my brain, hopefully planting seeds of inspiration for my own writing, poetry or otherwise. Why do I have the feeling that this book left a mark on me? Well, for starters, Lovelace tackles her own inner experience, whereas Amanda Gorman’s poetry tackles the collective trauma of a whole nation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying economic downturn. Both explorations of the internal and external are equally valid and powerful. Both explore complex topics and make the reader think. Really think. The Princess Saves Herself in This One is an...

*Spoiler warning!* 4/5 stars Milk and Honey is the first book of poetry I've read by Rupi Kaur. I really enjoyed this one, even if it dealt with difficult subjects, such as abuse, trauma, and recovery. Whatever form of writing you engage in, you are making yourself vulnerable to the reader. It is very clear that Kaur is putting herself out there in this poignant and beautiful volume.  All of the poems really resonated with me, featuring messages of hope after suffering trauma and learning to love yourself in all your imperfections. I think the one that resonated the most with me is: "I don't know what living a balanced life feels like When I am sad I don't cry I pour When I am happy I don't smile I glow When I am angry I don't yell I burn The good thing about feeling in extremes is When I love I give them wings But perhaps that isn't Such a good thing cause They always tend to leave And you should see me When my heart is broken I don't grieve I shatter...