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racham1123's review
4.0
I love a good one sitting book and that’s exactly what this collection was. It’s vulnerable, but strong. Written in three sections (I. Bad relationships with men and childhood II. Gay realization and III. Acceptance)
I’m a big fan on Sipples Appalachian wording and style. Her poems are both beautiful and thought provoking; there’s a lot to unpack with each piece.
I really enjoyed the third section of the collection because these are the WWJD poems specifically. And, though I’m not a believer I do find the more lax perspective she uses for Jesus to be refreshing and enjoyable.
I’m a big fan on Sipples Appalachian wording and style. Her poems are both beautiful and thought provoking; there’s a lot to unpack with each piece.
I really enjoyed the third section of the collection because these are the WWJD poems specifically. And, though I’m not a believer I do find the more lax perspective she uses for Jesus to be refreshing and enjoyable.
arden_time's review
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Child abuse
snowmaiden's review
5.0
I met Savannah Sipple when she came to a reading in my town. I almost wish I hadn’t, just because these are the kind of poems that are so raw and so visceral that it’s almost too much to picture them coming out of the pen of someone you know. Although some of the particular (southern, queer) details of these poems are outside of my experience, I identified very strongly with the issues they raise of feeling like an outsider growing up in a culture that the larger world will then judge you for coming from.
This book is the real deal. You should check it out. It’s what J would D.
This book is the real deal. You should check it out. It’s what J would D.
bookly_reads's review
5.0
Poems I'll come back to again and again; a few I'm already starting to memorize. Some of these poems dug deep; one made me tear up enough on a bus that I made strangers uncomfortable. Other poems were friskier and more playful (underneath, always, that tinge of melancholy).
I wish there had been even more poems featuring Jesus—I would be glad if Sipple continued to work with that idea, developing it even more, because I love the idea so much of a queer woman reclaiming Jesus as her friend, as an unstoppable force of love.
To sum it all up: poems to make you cry and turn you on. What else would I want from a book of lesbian poetry?
I wish there had been even more poems featuring Jesus—I would be glad if Sipple continued to work with that idea, developing it even more, because I love the idea so much of a queer woman reclaiming Jesus as her friend, as an unstoppable force of love.
To sum it all up: poems to make you cry and turn you on. What else would I want from a book of lesbian poetry?
devrose's review
4.0
I had high expectations for WWJD and Other Poems as soon as I saw that it started out with a quote from Dorothy Allison's Two or Three Things I Know For Sure, and I wasn't disappointed.
n WWJD, Stippler grapples with childhood abuse, weight issues, her sexuality, and religion. The abuse poems were hard, though "What We Tell Ourselves" is powerful and difficult and masterful all at once. The weight poems were hard but also, to me, brilliant. The poem "Pass/Back" is a complex web of grappling with food, her body weight, and her body's strength. The line in "Pass/Back" where she says "Boxing make me feel beautiful because muscles contract under my backfat ripples. I'm always the first to offer to carry a heavy load for someone else" speaks to me so much. I'm overweight and my partner, bigger than I am, is so much stronger. As I am, I get annoyed when people insist that someone with my fat can't lift the jug for the water cooler to replace it - but I've seen what my partner can do and I'm so glad Sipple has found that. I've seen that look of joy on my partner's face. It's beautiful. It's empowering.
The Jesus poems are great. I loved them because of who Stippler's Jesus is and because I think they mean that this queer woman who struggled(/struggles) so much has also found peace in a religion that so often causes strife for queer folks. ("Evangelism" is also amazing and I love it and know I don't fully understand it all at the same time.)
n WWJD, Stippler grapples with childhood abuse, weight issues, her sexuality, and religion. The abuse poems were hard, though "What We Tell Ourselves" is powerful and difficult and masterful all at once. The weight poems were hard but also, to me, brilliant. The poem "Pass/Back" is a complex web of grappling with food, her body weight, and her body's strength. The line in "Pass/Back" where she says "Boxing make me feel beautiful because muscles contract under my backfat ripples. I'm always the first to offer to carry a heavy load for someone else" speaks to me so much. I'm overweight and my partner, bigger than I am, is so much stronger. As I am, I get annoyed when people insist that someone with my fat can't lift the jug for the water cooler to replace it - but I've seen what my partner can do and I'm so glad Sipple has found that. I've seen that look of joy on my partner's face. It's beautiful. It's empowering.
The Jesus poems are great. I loved them because of who Stippler's Jesus is and because I think they mean that this queer woman who struggled(/struggles) so much has also found peace in a religion that so often causes strife for queer folks. ("Evangelism" is also amazing and I love it and know I don't fully understand it all at the same time.)
woodlandbooklover's review
5.0
So, so, so good. The poems are good in isolation and as a whole narrative, exploring growing up in Appalachia, queerness, and learning to accept love. The speaker of the poems is not hiding, even when discussing hiding. Would be great to use in a classroom
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