April is National Poetry Month and because of that I usually like to prioritize the poetry collections I’ve gotten ahold of during the year and read them. I know I should read poetry all year, especially since I’ve enjoyed the ones that have come my way. But it seems like this is a pattern that keeps repeating, and since the poetry collections I read this month were small and I find it hard sometimes to write a lengthy review for poetry collections, I thought it was the best idea to include all three in a poetry review.

Read below to see my thoughts on each collection:

A Tide Should Be Able to Rise Despite Its Moon by Jessica Bell

I received this book from The Next Best Book Club in exchange for an honest review.

A Tide Should Be Able to Rise Despite Its Moon was a collection that didn’t hit as hard as I thought it would. I enjoyed the imagery of the poems, that gorgeous cover, and the themes of time and identity. But that’s the thing about poetry, it speaks to who it’s meant to speak too, and that just wasn’t mean. That’s not to say that I won’t call to me one day, that Bell’s words won’t suddenly feel right, but not right now.

I think Bell’s a talented writer and there’s a lot of heart in these poems. There is a lot of love in these poems and I hope she writes more!

Publication: January 24 2023
Publisher: Vine Leaves Press
Pages: 60 pages (Paperback)
Source: TNBBC (Thanks Lori!)
Genre: Poetry
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤
Summary:

Inspired by the special bond between mother and child, Bell’s poems search for meaning in a world of misconception. They begin with small everyday moments and end with a shift in understanding that not only enlightens, but leaves you wondering.
From quiet nights reflecting on the sound of her child’s smile, to viewing the world from the perspective of a potted tree dreaming of being rooted into true mother earth, A Tide Should Be Able to Rise Despite Its Moon is a collection of raw, honest, modern-day fables that remind readers to look deeper, feel more, and let the world speak for itself.

Danger Flower by Jaclyn Desforges

I am OBSESSED with Danger Flower! It’s full of surreal tones with a splash of religious imagery. I loved the strangeness of it, the voice, this collection called to me. There’s a lot of love, a lot of thoughts, and so much wonderful nature imagery that I could easily envision while reading. I wish I could say more but when a poetry collection hits it’s hard to say more than that. READ THIS COLLECTION!

Publication: September 1 2021
Publisher: Palimpsest Press
Pages: 80 pages (Paperback)
Source: Owned
Genre: Poetry
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:

A baby transforms into a reverse mermaid in a baptism gone wrong. After being stepped on, a snail exacts revenge. In Danger Flower, Jaclyn Desforges leads enlightened witnesses through a wild garden where archetypal tales are treated with tongue-in-cheek irreverence. Amidst nesting dolls and opossums, poison oak and Tamagotchis, the poet navigates gender roles, sexual indiscretions, episodic depression, and mothering, forming essential survival strategies for a changing world. Danger Floweris a necessary debut.

A Number of Stunning Attacks by Jessi MacEachern

A Number of Stunning Attacks was the longest collection I read this month and interesting in the sense that each of it’s parts told it’s own story. I didn’t always understand this collection, some of the poems went over my head, but in a collection lauded as “intoxicated by disorientation” I’m not sure how else to read it. I’ll probably read it again at some point to try to make some sense, but I enjoyed the feel of it!

Publication: March 19 2021
Publisher: Invisible Publishing
Pages: 109 pages (Paperback)
Source: Owned
Genre: Poetry
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤.75
Summary:

A raw and intimate testimony of the spatial and emotional difficulty of facing the self and the other
A Number of Stunning Attacks contributes to the ongoing association of fragmented forms and women’s writing, yet the insistent repetitions and crystallized imagery produce something more coherent than a fragment and more dynamic than a single whole. Drawing on a line of innovative women’s poetics in Canada, these poems recall the radical experiments of Lisa Robertson, Erìn Moure, and Gail Scott. Intoxicated by disorientation, the reader will ask: Which city is this? Which woman is this? Which reader am I?