writersrelief's review against another edition
5.0
In Boy with Flowers, Ely Shipley’s introspections on the American transgender experience resonate through time and memory as this poetry explores questions of gender, identity, and perceptions of the world. Through glimpses of his family and other childhood experiences, Shipley has crafted a powerful collection that is both revolutionary and pertinent. In poems like “Roll of Dime” and “Six,” childhood experiences become avenues for Shipley to dive deeper into societal expectations about gender, while other poems, like “Glass” and “Shroud,” rely on images and reflection to capture the distorted way that our identities can be perceived by others. Shipley’s collection is simultaneously a personal meditation, a societal analysis, and a lovely, haunting work of art.
lulujoanis's review against another edition
4.0
Two months after my first read of Boy with Flowers, while I was a bit confused at the dreamlike streams of consciousness, the fragments of enjambed sentences, there was something unforgettable about this book. I recalled images of levitating violins and burning guitars in a collection of poetry whose primary theme, from my perspective, is gender dysphoria. Perhaps that had much to do with my acknowledgement that new year of my own gender dysphoria, although from another end of the spectrum, assigned-male-at-birth and realizing their own femininity. And perhaps my initial read of this book, enjoyable but unsatisfying because of the ambiguity, had more to do with my personal expectations of feminine poetry judging by the title and from my partner who had gifted the book to me, than any deficit inherent in Shipley's poetry.
Upon a second reading, the experience becomes more coherent; Part I pieces together sequences of memory to form a web which reaches out thematically across the rest of the book. Part II focuses mostly on Ely Shipley's experiences in Los Angeles, whereas Part III utilizes themes of music and art, fire and water, home (Utah) and away in both time and space, as a grand finale, serving as both a rupture of and a bandage between other established motifs. Of course, there are threads between each part into others that form a complex web; Part III, in my opinion, contained the strongest poems, such as "He lay down", "Man at a Bar", "Six", Transgendered Teens on D.C. Street, August 12th, 2002", "Memorial", and "Etymology". Some other strong poems in this collection in my opinion are "Roll of Dimes", the titular "Boy with Flowers", "Army Tattoos", and "Horizon Line".
The only critique that I still stand by are some unmemorable titles, such as the near-duplicates "A Wave" and "Waves", as well as the generic titles "Encounter", "Shroud", and "Breath" (as amazing as the last one is); these poems do not do a very good job of representing the poem, in fact sometimes diminishing their meaning. The other critique, paired with this, is the use of overly ambiguous images and narratives to purposefully confuse the reader; it feels as if not even Shipley understands some of the flow between certain images, but does so to deliberately perplex the reader. I do believe that many of these dreams have special meaning to Shipley, but it is his job as the poet to illuminate them beyond the personal, to involve us in the meaning rather than create a feeling of voyeur from the reader that does not result in much substance, at least in my experience.
Shipley's poems are highly imagistic and personalized, especially dealing with dream symbolism, and thus very difficult, but in my experience, really rewarding, especially on a second reading.
Upon a second reading, the experience becomes more coherent; Part I pieces together sequences of memory to form a web which reaches out thematically across the rest of the book. Part II focuses mostly on Ely Shipley's experiences in Los Angeles, whereas Part III utilizes themes of music and art, fire and water, home (Utah) and away in both time and space, as a grand finale, serving as both a rupture of and a bandage between other established motifs. Of course, there are threads between each part into others that form a complex web; Part III, in my opinion, contained the strongest poems, such as "He lay down", "Man at a Bar", "Six", Transgendered Teens on D.C. Street, August 12th, 2002", "Memorial", and "Etymology". Some other strong poems in this collection in my opinion are "Roll of Dimes", the titular "Boy with Flowers", "Army Tattoos", and "Horizon Line".
The only critique that I still stand by are some unmemorable titles, such as the near-duplicates "A Wave" and "Waves", as well as the generic titles "Encounter", "Shroud", and "Breath" (as amazing as the last one is); these poems do not do a very good job of representing the poem, in fact sometimes diminishing their meaning. The other critique, paired with this, is the use of overly ambiguous images and narratives to purposefully confuse the reader; it feels as if not even Shipley understands some of the flow between certain images, but does so to deliberately perplex the reader. I do believe that many of these dreams have special meaning to Shipley, but it is his job as the poet to illuminate them beyond the personal, to involve us in the meaning rather than create a feeling of voyeur from the reader that does not result in much substance, at least in my experience.
Shipley's poems are highly imagistic and personalized, especially dealing with dream symbolism, and thus very difficult, but in my experience, really rewarding, especially on a second reading.
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