This is a collection of poetry and self care written by Kai Cheng Thom, a Chinese diaspora non-binary trans woman who self identifies as a writer, performance artist, and community healer in Toronto.  

Falling Back in Love with Being Human is a collection of poetry/essays.  My library received this book in January when it came out and I picked it up on a whim a few days ago.  I am trying to be more intentional in choosing diverse authors who represent voices I don’t hear from often enough.  This was a beautiful, approachable, volume and didn’t leave me feeling like I’m not smart enough to understand poetry.  I often feel that way when reading poetry, which I don’t fault the poets for necessary, I just don’t think we are exposed to enough poetry and school teaches us that the only way to engage with it, is to pull it apart and examine it like a medical examiner doing an autopsy.  

These texts were lovely and honest.  And I’m trying to describe them so that you’ll understand and want to read them too.  Here again, my poetry education is failing me I think.  I was touched by the haunting ones written to those who have passed away or who struggle in loneliness and depression.  Letters to queer and trans ancestors, gone too soon.   And it hurts and makes me angry to think of all we lost in history and queer elders because of the AIDS epidemic and because of violence against trans folks.  We were denied access to all that wisdom and experience.  

Read this one.  It’s wonderful.