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alexatheoracle's review
5.0
“It was all fun and games until their youngest was hit by a truck. We were the lesbian poet moms in the rambling blue farmhouse with the peace sign on one corner; they were the careful Christians in the classic yellow Victorian on the other.” The opening lines of “Neighbor as Self in Mandan, North Dakota,” the first poem in Julie Gard’s collection Home Studies, perfectly set the tone for what’s to come. Gard’s prose poems are filled with dry yet poignant observations about what it’s like to be queer in a small Midwestern town.
The collection is divided into three different sections. The second, in which she tells the story of a neighbor who tried to burn down her family’s house, is the most noteworthy. Each poem bears the title of a different object for sale at the thrift store the would-be arson worked at, using objects as common as common as a doily and as odd as a pair of doll hands to delve deep into the events before and after the attempt. Gard shines a light on the ugly side of small town life, and doesn’t shy away from the complexities of ignorance, anger, sympathy, and forgiveness.
Home Studies is filled with small, well-crafted poems that will most certainly speak to queer readers from small towns across the country, while still remaining accessible to larger audiences. Gard’s writing is entertaining and thought-provoking in equal measures, and comes across as deceivingly simple in structure and style. Readers will surely find dozens of beautiful small truths within the pages of this collection.
The collection is divided into three different sections. The second, in which she tells the story of a neighbor who tried to burn down her family’s house, is the most noteworthy. Each poem bears the title of a different object for sale at the thrift store the would-be arson worked at, using objects as common as common as a doily and as odd as a pair of doll hands to delve deep into the events before and after the attempt. Gard shines a light on the ugly side of small town life, and doesn’t shy away from the complexities of ignorance, anger, sympathy, and forgiveness.
Home Studies is filled with small, well-crafted poems that will most certainly speak to queer readers from small towns across the country, while still remaining accessible to larger audiences. Gard’s writing is entertaining and thought-provoking in equal measures, and comes across as deceivingly simple in structure and style. Readers will surely find dozens of beautiful small truths within the pages of this collection.
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