A review by jaclyn_sixminutesforme
Kindred by Kirli Saunders

4.0

I really enjoyed this collection and particularly the control in language—simple and poignant prose with imagery and movement that carried words with measure and an effortless exterior. When thinking of how best to articulate this, I kept coming back to ballet—the strength and discipline that are hard at work below the breathtaking grace of the surface. For example, the poem “Dharawal Country” and it’s repeated closing line in each stanza “there is trauma here.” The imagery used to describe the natural landscape had a haunting beauty to it—“ants, like homicide crime scene cleaners” and “cicada broaches pinned to rough flesh.” I also really appreciated the engagement with language as a connection to place, including using the language of Country on which the poem was written, such as in the poem “Wirritjiribin” (the lyrebird). Highly recommend even if poetry isn’t a genre you move to readily, this is a collection that invites conversation and I think many readers will find accessible.