Something a little bit different! The second book review I’ve ever written is up at The Rumpus. Check out my thoughts on the gorgeous poetry collection ‘Cleave’ by the very talented Darla Himeles.

Here’s a small excerpt:

Himeles touches on topics such as early domestic abuse, queer relationships, and reproductive struggles. Each poem gleams with its own sharpness as Himeles traces the emotional fault lines along which to carve out and bring her stories to light.

Forty-seven pieces tether to or circle around the titled theme of Cleave. Throughout the collection, Himeles explores different definitions and fleshes out facets of meaning that belong to this single-syllable word. Himeles draws a parallel: just as one definition doesn’t fully define a word, a single experience doesn’t fully define a life.

Read “Bringing to Light: A Gathering and Tethering of Memory in Darla Himeles’s Cleave”