Poetry – Page 137 – Cannonball Read 17

How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This

A Fortune for your Diaster by Hanif Abdurraqib

October 8, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

This is a newly released collection of poems by Hanif Abdurraqib, who was also recently nominated for the National Book Award for his commentary on Tribe Called Quest. I’ve also read his longer collection of essays, and it’s also excellent. This is a deeply satisfying collection of poem that is structured on the the three-part sequence for a successful stage illusion that we all learned from the movie The Prestige (or the book) — The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige. And at first I […]

One of the top most 100 banned books of the decade! (2013)

What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

October 5, 2019 by cosbrarian Leave a Comment

CBR11Bingo – Banned Books Sophie has two lives – the one her mother knows, and the one Sophie hides. The one Mother knows is the sad one. The miserable home life Sophie spends as the only child of two people who hate each other. Her mother is deeply depressed, spending more time with General Hospital than with the family. Her father is cold and distant, unless he and mom are screaming at each other. But in her other life, the one her mother doesn’t need […]

Nevermind that he is only a memo from the offices of fear.

At Blackwater Pond by Mary Oliver

September 21, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

This is a small collection of Mary Oliver poems that the poet herself reads. Much of Mary Oliver poetry is like a set of minor meditations of a natural with life being pushed to forefront and the present manifesting. If you give yourself over to her poems, they act as tiny little moments of clarity. It’s much like the Robert Frost definition of poetry, and the effect can be incredibly calming, or at least stilling. This collection is a single disk audiobook version of the […]

It’s not the bad people who are brave I fear, it’s the good people who are afraid

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes

September 11, 2019 by Leedock Leave a Comment

CBR11BINGO: Not My Wheelhouse (BINGO! I Love This! corner to Award Winner corner) I read across a lot of genres, but I haven’t read poetry since I was in college a million years ago. Taking “Not My Wheelhouse” to mean something that I’m curious about but don’t tend to pick up, I landed on a poetry. I also landed on a poet who is not my wheelhouse. BlackRaven reviewed this a while back and said it best, I think: “I am sorry to say, I […]

When I grow up I want to be Mama Cass, Janis Joplin, Katherine Hepburn, Caroline Jones and Rachel Wiley

Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley

September 9, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

#cbr11bingo #TwoHeadsareBetterThanOne Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley came before the poetry collection, Nothing is Okay. And I am glad that I read that one first, as Fat Girl, in several ways, was not as strong. As much as I love Wiley, the themes are consistent, therefore, you know they style after reading (or listening) a handful of poems. That is not to say they are all not amazing, they are. Wiley knows how to twist a phrase around on itself and punch you. […]

Fireflies, Wildflower Moon, Black Widow and Rebirth

Season of the Sorceress: Poetry and Prose by Melody Lee

September 3, 2019 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

#cbr11bingo #TheCollection I have been following Melody Lee on Facebook for a while now. I loved reading her poetry. Unfortunately, once I found a full collection and not just her snippets, things were not as strong. Not to say, at anytime was I not enjoying myself, but her style is solidly her in Season of the Sorceress: Poetry and Prose and maybe not what I as expecting from the cover (created by Mitch Green) and what I was aware of with her (basically meme) poems. […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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