Book Riot Read Harder Challenge #7: Read an indie published collection of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author.

Poetry can be a complicated thing. There are so many different forms of poetry and so many ways that it can be created. We all gravitate toward it, especially when we are young, though we tend to focus more on the rhyming kinds. Rhyming poetry tends to be fun and more playful than its more serious free verse counterparts.

There once was an old withered bat

Who was deathly afraid of a cat

That ran from a spry little rat

And that’s all I’ll say about that.

I know. Feel free to applaud at the majesty that was that rhyme. In case the above is not evidence enough, poetry is not the medium I gravitate towards. Poetry requires a different level of vulnerability and openness on the part of the author that I find difficult. I have so much respect for poets who are able to express themselves in the sheer art that is poetry.

The one thing that poetry in all of its forms has in common is the feeling that it invokes. Poetry makes you feel something. Whether you understand the purpose of the poem or whether you are the audience that connects with it in the strongest way, it still invokes feelings. Feelings of sadness, of strength, of empathy, of loss. All of those can be felt through this poetry collection.

Like any poetry collection, not every poem touched me in the same way. The majority of this collection, however, made me think about the world in a closer and more critical way. It’s a powerful piece, and you should definitely give this one a read.