Mothers who crossed oceans for their children's joy
To live in forms
And lines
And checks

In hand-me-downs and stare-me-downs

In a language you may never sit in comfortably.
A language with no back to carry your meaning.

In missing home.
While making your children a new one.

You deserve adoration.
Your stories are the ones we are waiting for.

- From May This Poem Meet You In Your Language

This poetry book touches on themes of toxic family relationships, parental abuse, self-love, cultural erasure, Blackness, and love. However, although I usually enjoy seeing these themes in poetry, it seemed to me that the author's exploration was a little bit all over the place. I would have really appreciated some more cohesiveness and depth. There were some potentially great pieces that weren't expounded on or weren't given the polish they needed to really shine.

Moreover, it was challenging for me to wrap my head around what a fire like you was trying to achieve. Again, I couldn't identify the central idea behind this collection.

Overall, I found most of the poems to be... quite lukewarm. I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't love this one, especially because I genuinely look forward to poetry written by women of color.

Not recommended!

* I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.