yetilibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
4.0
It only gets 4 stars NOW because I think I appreciate poetry more when I can see it, as I learned today. I plan to get a paper copy and let it fully sink in. I'll update the review then.
nglofile's review against another edition
4.0
Gorgeous and devastating.
Rarely do I experience poetry in audio as a first read, but this was the correct choice here. These words sing with power and emotion and cadence because they are her own, regardless of professional technique. The authenticity is everything.
Be who you are, even if it kills you.
It will. Over and over again.
Even as you live.
Break my heart, why don't you?
Rarely do I experience poetry in audio as a first read, but this was the correct choice here. These words sing with power and emotion and cadence because they are her own, regardless of professional technique. The authenticity is everything.
Be who you are, even if it kills you.
It will. Over and over again.
Even as you live.
Break my heart, why don't you?
jesblack's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.5
I could read this again & still enjoy each line.
ela_lee_'s review against another edition
4.0
A unique and delicate collection of poems that hold a lot of emotion as we’re reminded how horrifying The Trail of Tears was for Indigenous Americans.
“Until the passage of The Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, it was illegal for Native citizens to practicer our cultures. This includes the making and sharing of songs and stories. Songs and stories in one culture are poetry and prose in another. They are intrinsic to cultural sovereignty. To write or create as a Native person was essentially illegal.”
I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of nature and the calmness of her poetry style. A few excerpts I bookmarked: (Typed out directly from the Audiobook, so not accurately formatted.)
And the words of her song were: “I have no more land, I am driven away from home, driven up the red waters. Let us all go. Let us all die together and somewhere up on the banks, we will be there.” (1937 interview)
“Once, there were songs for everything. Songs for planting, for growing, for harvesting. For eating, getting drunk, falling asleep. For sunrise, birth, mind break, and war. For death - those are the heaviest songs. And they have to be pried from the earth with shovels of grief. Now, all we hear are falling in love songs and falling apart after falling in love songs.”
Cehotosakvtes (Traditional Muscogee Song)
“Do not get tired. Don’t be discouraged. Be determined. Come, together. Let’s go, towards the highest place.”
“The waters of this river, these healing plants, these stones. These winds roaming through on sunlight and rains. All the suns of our lost days. They couldn’t remember, because to remember would have killed us… when nothing else did.”
“Until the passage of The Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, it was illegal for Native citizens to practicer our cultures. This includes the making and sharing of songs and stories. Songs and stories in one culture are poetry and prose in another. They are intrinsic to cultural sovereignty. To write or create as a Native person was essentially illegal.”
I particularly enjoyed her descriptions of nature and the calmness of her poetry style. A few excerpts I bookmarked: (Typed out directly from the Audiobook, so not accurately formatted.)
And the words of her song were: “I have no more land, I am driven away from home, driven up the red waters. Let us all go. Let us all die together and somewhere up on the banks, we will be there.” (1937 interview)
“Once, there were songs for everything. Songs for planting, for growing, for harvesting. For eating, getting drunk, falling asleep. For sunrise, birth, mind break, and war. For death - those are the heaviest songs. And they have to be pried from the earth with shovels of grief. Now, all we hear are falling in love songs and falling apart after falling in love songs.”
Cehotosakvtes (Traditional Muscogee Song)
“Do not get tired. Don’t be discouraged. Be determined. Come, together. Let’s go, towards the highest place.”
“The waters of this river, these healing plants, these stones. These winds roaming through on sunlight and rains. All the suns of our lost days. They couldn’t remember, because to remember would have killed us… when nothing else did.”