(3.5 / 5) – Worth It
Readers have a lot of opinions on the resurgence of poetry in this modern age of social media and Instagram poets, but I for one am here for it.
I picked up Jasmine Mans’ “Black Girl, Call Home” in a leading superstore as it sat on the shelf alongside various poetry compilations from modern and classic authors. It makes my heart happy to see people demanding poetry for their bookshelves and leading publishers and retailers listening.
“Black Girl, Call Home” is a deeply personal and intimate compilation of poetry that speaks to the universal truths of life, identity, love and relationship through the voice and experience of a Black queer woman. The poems vary in length though most are a page and in the mix Mans includes simple statements or a line of thought that can be digested quickly or give the reader a moment of pause.
Overall, I enjoyed this book of poetry. It was accessible and didn’t shy away from hard topics and experiences. There were a number of poems that hit me deeply. Poems such as: Nerf Guns: Christmas 2019, Tulsa, She Doesn’t Look Like Rape, Babies at the Border and Missing Girls. There is a vivid excavation of deep, dark and sometimes conflicting emotions in these poems that left me chewing on them line by line and holding them loosely as I continue to metabolize the truth and rawness of them.
Mans offers her readers a whole-heartedness that cannot be understated and if you are willing to journey with her, I do not believe you will be disappointed.
Happy Reading!
Hannah
