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ariapahari's review against another edition
5.0
So many of her lines shook me to my core. I even posted a verse on Instagram because it resonated with me so much. I loved how she incorporated philosophical terms and concepts into several of the poems. My favorite pieces in this collection were those in which she spun the philosophical with the earthly, and exposed how these realms are in fact not quite that different. Some of the apocalyptic-toned poems were a bit too jarring for me, but this sentiment is of course subjective. Structurally, I admired her ability to write in couplets, tercets, and prose, as well as experiment with white space. Her lines remind me of Tarfia Faizullah in this way. Overall, I am so grateful I found this book—one more talented (and woman of color, no less) poet from whom I hope to learn.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
from NECESSITY DEFENSE OF INSTITUTIONAL MEMORYso I may be replaced
by a machine which in its violence behaves
more like me
the longer you live the more these lies
come alive
so the past splits in two:
one stays in the past and dies
one past shape-shifts walks with you.
devonashby's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
juliechristinejohnson's review
5.0
I read each of these poems aloud. There was no other way to do it. The rhythm of Rankine's lines, the urgency of her stanzas, demand to be listened to as much as read. My throat, tongue, mouth, lips felt the meaning at least as much as my brain.
There is very little of the literal in Rankine's debut collection; instead, quiet, keening allegory and dreamlike-imagery push politics and love and body and broken soul through thin ice into the air to be snatched like smoke. She writes often of loneliness and of love, which are inseparable conditions, aren't they?
Rankine presents a range of poetic structures, from numbered lists to tercets to free verse that ranges over the page, sometimes like the unchecked rush of a waterfall, sometimes like the painted stripes on a highway that keep you in your lane. But always, ever-present, is the lucid and luminous prose that rings like a clarion.
Here is what a broken heart feels like:
Incorrect Merciful Impulses was a chance find at a Copper Canyon Press poetry reading of Pablo Neruda's forthcoming Lost Poems. An impulse purchase. A correct and merciful one.
In the half-light, I am mostFrom The Current Isolationism
at home, my shadow
as company.
When I feel hot, I push a button
to make it stop.I mean this stain on my mind
I can't get out. How human
I seem. Like modern man,
I traffic in extinction. I have a gift.
Like an animal, I sustain.
There is very little of the literal in Rankine's debut collection; instead, quiet, keening allegory and dreamlike-imagery push politics and love and body and broken soul through thin ice into the air to be snatched like smoke. She writes often of loneliness and of love, which are inseparable conditions, aren't they?
I am dirtFrom Wilt
and all the nights that keep ending like this:
I return from the party, my life is smoke,
I fall asleep trying to seduce you.
Rankine presents a range of poetic structures, from numbered lists to tercets to free verse that ranges over the page, sometimes like the unchecked rush of a waterfall, sometimes like the painted stripes on a highway that keep you in your lane. But always, ever-present, is the lucid and luminous prose that rings like a clarion.
Dear night: It was so warmFrom Vespertine
under you that I offered
but you refused
to endure
Here is what a broken heart feels like:
I turn to you to findFrom Wake
there is no you,
which means it's morning
and I will fail
at everything today.
Incorrect Merciful Impulses was a chance find at a Copper Canyon Press poetry reading of Pablo Neruda's forthcoming Lost Poems. An impulse purchase. A correct and merciful one.
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