Monday, January 24, 2022

Monday Book - Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman


 I was so impressed by presidential inaugural poet, Amanda Gorman, that I was excited for her book of poetry, Call Us What We Carry.  It does include The Hill We Climb. 

cover blurb - This luminous poetry collection captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. 

These poems shine a light on  a moment of reckoning and reveal that Gorman has  become our messenger from the past, our voice for the future. 

Poetry is tricky and I'll have to re-read some to plumb the true depths.  But some poems spoke boldly, just hit me with the power of her words. Her rhythms are strong and there's a musical beat to so many of the poems. 

Here's an example of strong imagery from Ship's Manifest.  

First stanza    Allegedly the worst is behind us

                        Still we crouch before the lip of tomorrow

                        Halting like a headless hant in our own home

                        Waiting to remember exactly

                        What it is we're supposed to be doing

I know poetry isn't for everyone, but if you love words and want to dip your toe in the poetry pool, Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman is a good place to start. 

 

8 comments:

  1. Glad you enjoyed it. Deep poetry goes right over my head.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know that it's all super deep. She explores common themes with word play and rhythm. I find it stretches my mind a bit.

      Delete
  2. Definitely want to read. She totally blew me away at the inauguration. Thanks so much for the excerpt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you will be very impressed with so many of her poems. If we lived close, I'd lend this to you right now!

      Delete
  3. Hi Joanne - I share Nila's comment and thank you for posting her new book ... she's an amazing poet and youngster ... cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep - and then I'd lend it to you after Nila. Then we could meet and chat about it - reading fave lines. That would be quite fun

      Delete