A review by 3iii8v
A Fire Like You by Upile Chisala

2.0

I didn’t feel anything gut-wrenching or deep from the poems in this collection, but I felt like they all had the potential to grow into something more. I think another issue contributing to that was the lack of poetic devices, like unique metaphors or unexpected analogies. Chisala relied a little too heavily on one of my least favorite techniques–hitting the “enter” button after a line to add emphasis. I’ve noticed it becoming increasingly persistent in most of the modern poetry books I read. I just find it to be a cheap and over-dramatic way of making something stand out. Rather than letting words speak for themselves, they are separated to make you pay attention to each one.