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Really loved this collection! We‘ve had some amazing books this round!! I‘ll try and mail this Monday or Tuesday! @slategreyskies @HoneyBeeLee @thebluestocking #lmpbc

I quite enjoyed this slender collection. Xie explores themes of travel and belonging and story and so much more. Her poetry evokes clear images and is precise, which worked for me here. I‘ll be watching for additional collections from her.

I hope the ladies in my current #LMPBC group enjoy it too!

January round-up, poetry edition. Tagged book was my favorite.

I loved this poetry collection! There is a section on her parents‘ lives as immigrants and her own experiences growing up in an immigrant community. Also lots of Nature and travel poems. This was a finalist for the 2018 NBA for Poetry. #poetry #nationalbookaward

“Eye Level” didn‘t immediately captivate me or blow me away. It wasn‘t an instantaneous connection; it was more of a slow build. Travel is a major theme, along with avoidance. I‘ve gone basically nowhere & might be a little overly communicative & in-touch with my emotions. The words, however, remained evocative, though they still maintained that sense of distance.

*cont‘d👇🏻

“Tsvetaeva, open on my bedside table.
Lines feeding on a crust
of lamplight.”

“And a question stammers in the mind for weeks, one key aquiver on the piano.”

“We said untrue things to make the time go faster, our teeth bright with holes.”

“It is good to wake and sleep, to scrape jars with spoons.”

Poetic snippets from Jenny Xie:

“Seeing the collars of this city open...”

“Smell of shadows in both March and October...”

“Books that prowled her until the hard daybreak, and for months after.”

#poemsbeforephones
Photo by: Hengki Koentzhoro

#poemsbeforephones

“We are wiped of age first thing in the morning.”

I‘d be lying if I said I didn‘t dream about getting lost in my high school (which was labyrinthine & obviously looked nothing like my real high school, which I graduated from over 15 years ago), & kissing boys from my past last night. (Sadly, none of those boys were Ryan Gosling). I think I woke up 16 years old. 🤷‍♀️

This is my favorite poem in the collection so far.

Today, I looked up how many days straight I‘ve gone in my goal of reading a poem (or few) before reaching for technology. I‘m at 89! 🙌🏻💪🏻🌸

#poemsbeforephones

#poemsbeforephones ugly airport-carpet edition! 😆

“You‘ll wreck your eyesight poring over pages in low light/but looking at all things green from a distance can coax it back.”

Going to warmer climes for a few days! ☀️🌴
Maybe I‘ll gaze at some greenery & fix my terrible vision. 👁 It‘s snowing this morning, too.
GET ME OUTTA HERE!

#BookRiotReadHarderChallenge2019: collection of poetry published since 2014

An outstanding debut poetry collection that, as the title suggests, is a lot about seeing and perception. Her words often transport to places she has been in terms of geography or personal history. Highly recommended.

Just when you thought your TBR was safe and you could breathe easy until 2019..! 🤣🤣🤣

https://pen.org/2019longlists/

This NBA longlisted poetry collection explores the inner life and connections to people and places. The author seems to struggle with the way language is often unable to bridge the gap between the self and the outside world. Multiple poems detail observations, as if from a great distance, of various locations - Corfu, Phnom Penh, etc. Others explore failed attempts to use language for connection. 5⭐️

Tfw you're an introvert and you're forced to use the few phrases of a language you don't know very well. Seriously, that efficiency of words... If this whole collection is like that, I'd be so pleased.

Just saw this was longlisted for the National Book Award in poetry. Also, I love Graywolf Press. So I'm pretty optimistic about this one.