Sep, 17 2020 | no responses
What makes these poems so intensely moving, so worthy of an adoration to match, is the unflinching dedication to be complicated—to be whole and true in all ways, when it makes us satisfied and when it makes us hurt, often in the same breath.
Sep, 08 2020 | no responses
As poets—non-journalists—we are frequently caught between conflicting expectations for our art. We are told not to be too blunt in our politics on the page, lest we dull the pen. We are told poetry is not enough in a time of crisis, is not useful, is self-satisfied and indulgent. It is not marching in the […]
Aug, 06 2020 | no responses
In the beginning, Wimberley struggles to mourn the loss of home, father, and country. And by the end, he emerges from the trauma with the intent to preserve himself.
Aug, 05 2020 | no responses
These poems illuminate the seemingly endless cycles of violence that perpetuate government-sanctioned surveillance and incarceration, particularly on working class young men.
Aug, 04 2020 | no responses
By presenting the reader with twenty-five different translations of the same poem—which deliberately raises questions about what it means for multiple poems to have “sameness,” or to come from the same “source” poem—de la Torre implicitly argues for the translations as a sort of palimpsest or layering-over.
Jul, 17 2020 | no responses
That seems to be what Phillips sets out to do, to keep beginning, and that seems to be what he does throughout this very rewarding book that ends with a mass coronation.