A review by circadias
How to Tell If You Are Human: Diagram Poems by Jessy Randall

5.0

I have a soft spot for visual poetry of all stripes, but that doesn't mean I love it all. Any writer can take an experiment like this and run it into the ground of gimmickry, but these poems by Jessy Randall avoid all of those pitfalls. Comprised of diagrams paired with text that is poignant, often funny, and always interested in human connection, these are poems that are experimental while still being humane and big-hearted. This is a rare achievement for any art we might label conceptual, so Randall's ability to pull it off is all the more impressive.