dacha's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Addiction
readingbrb's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Addiction and Drug use
mandkips's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Racism
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Colonisation, Genocide, and Death
lowbrowhighart's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Racism, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Addiction, Gun violence, Mental illness, Genocide, Colonisation, War, and Self harm
gingerhoneycitrus's review
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Minor: Addiction
mxae's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This is a beautiful collection that is full of pain and desire, of resilience and bravery, or water and green.
This is such an essential volume for everyone to read. It is the perfect volume for 2022, queer, indigenous, eloquent, raw, political and poetical.
This is such an essential volume for everyone to read. It is the perfect volume for 2022, queer, indigenous, eloquent, raw, political and poetical.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction
thecolourblue's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
This second collection from Natalie Diaz builds itself around water. Fluid foundations that see it moving from place to place, idea to idea, while keeping a cohesive rhythm.
Diaz explores the concept of the human body as a body of water - merging biological science with Native American mythology to form her own personal and political narrative - as well as the environmental dangers posed to the bodies of water on American land. It's a heady and commanding combination of metaphorical and literal rivers, and, of course, droughts. One of the more overtly political poems on this theme is the excellent 'Exhibits from the American Water Museum', told as a series of informational signs on the walls of a future exhibit about water, drought, Native culture, and colonialism.
Diaz explores the concept of the human body as a body of water - merging biological science with Native American mythology to form her own personal and political narrative - as well as the environmental dangers posed to the bodies of water on American land. It's a heady and commanding combination of metaphorical and literal rivers, and, of course, droughts. One of the more overtly political poems on this theme is the excellent 'Exhibits from the American Water Museum', told as a series of informational signs on the walls of a future exhibit about water, drought, Native culture, and colonialism.
Let me tell you a story about water:
Once upon a time there was us.
America’s thirst tried to drink us away.
And here we still are.
True to Diaz' previous work, there are flashes of startling humor, both in the Water Museum poems and in some of the included poems about love and sex. There are a number of sweet and erotic poems exploring the writer's queer identity and seemingly, paying homage to past or present lovers.
Also continuing a thread from Diaz' first collection, When My Brother Was An Aztec (which I loved), are tales of her family, and particularly her brother and his struggles with addiction. These poems are vignetted memories, some frightening, some achingly joyful.
I think I do prefer Diaz' first collection to this one, but this is still a masterful work from a poet fully embodied in her own power and vision.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Sexual content
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