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dinasamimi's review against another edition
4.0
Intimate. I gravitate towards sparse, powerful language in verse. Shire lends voice to painful truths -- she's sitting beside you whispering things, and there's almost a violence to her words.
soforlorn's review against another edition
4.0
“ To my daughter I will say,
‘when the men come, set yourself on fire’. ”
im sick to my stomach
‘when the men come, set yourself on fire’. ”
im sick to my stomach
readingpisces's review against another edition
4.0
Let me start of by saying that my relationship with poetry is kind of complicated, I love it when it isn’t too much relying on portraying of emotions but rather guiding the reader through a reading journey that inflicts emotions. That is exactly what it does. It’s a powerful collection of poetry on life in a war driven country and feminism. In my opinion everyone should read this. I loved it and I’m not saying this lightly as it is the first collection that inflicted auch emotions in me.
lbarsk's review against another edition
3.0
Despite my rating, I would actually strongly recommend this work -- Shire's poems are beautiful and so, so powerful. The issue is more the fact that I definitely wasn't in the right headspace or time of my life to read them. I'll have to revisit these poems in the future and find more of Shire's work.
The one poem that's really stuck with me in the 24 hours since reading this is the one whose title was had to do with a deportation facility / immigration office and which had five stanzas. That was like a sucker punch. I think the other ones are like that, too, but I just couldn't emotionally connect with them because of where I'm at right now.
The one poem that's really stuck with me in the 24 hours since reading this is the one whose title was had to do with a deportation facility / immigration office and which had five stanzas. That was like a sucker punch. I think the other ones are like that, too, but I just couldn't emotionally connect with them because of where I'm at right now.
hldahlseid's review against another edition
4.0
Most of Warsan Shire’s poems seem to speak to women who have experienced trauma, speak to the family of whoever’s perspective each poem is being written from, or seem like the same person who is talking is reflecting. They seem reflective. Even the poems that are more clearly accusing someone of abuse, are not accusatory in tone. However, in the poem “Conversations About Home,” the tone shifts. As I read it, it seemed more tense, like the anticipation was building up faster and faster. I read this one at a quicker speed than the others, which is interesting considering this is the only one in true paragraph format. It seemed like it could be from one of the scenes in a movie about someone’s life, where the camera cuts to landscapes and buildings, as the narrator is off camera talking faster and faster, with a sense of urgency like their story won’t be told if they don’t get it out soon enough. The camera would be picking up speed too, switching to different landscapes almost as if following a car driving. This was very different to read than the others, where my mind was by itself at the ocean, or in a tree watching a bird, or sitting by a cracking fire watching the sparks fall to the grass but not quite light it ablaze. “I'll see you on the other side” (Shire 23) is the sentence where it made sense why this poem was experienced differently for me. Shire switched to an accusatory tone. She is talking about the immigrant experience, and instead of reflecting on why people are xenophobic, she calls them xenophobic in her abstract way. I think this last line was saying how she used to be like the people who are treating her horribly. She used to feel safe and home. But eventually something will happen to them too, and they will also be discriminated against.
The quote “I do not know where I am doing, where I have come from is disappearing, I am unwelcome and my beauty is not beauty here” (Shire 22) is also from the poem “Conversations About Home,” and I think sums up her entire book. She writes like the future is uncertain, and the past was full of things happening to her, instead of her having lived it. The phrase about beauty could be related to the themes about bodies and sexuality, how they are a part of the human experience, but in her book there were so many examples of women being abused and taken advantage of. Like a woman's beauty was something she owed to others; like her beauty was not seen as beauty, but instead an invitation; like a woman's identity and worth and treatment was defined by who considered what beautiful. One of my best friends is an international student of color who grew up in war , and everything she has told me about her life at home, her life here, and how people treat her feels like that one line.
Overall, I really appreciated Warsan Shire’s poetry. I don’t think enjoyed is the right word, since she was writing about really difficult topics and horrible things that have happened. But I really like her writing style, and how she is able to infuse words with emotions, and make everybody feel something but think something slightly different.
imissyou's review against another edition
5.0
"Visit him on a Tuesday and he will describethe body of every woman he could not save.He’ll say she looked like your motherand you will feel a storm in your stomach."
OMFGGGGG
OMFGGGGG
jzw237's review against another edition
4.0
Poetry on being a girl, a sister, a daughter, a mother, a friend, a lover, a human.
Poetry on being a woman.
Poetry on being a woman.