A review by muga
Your Crib, My Qibla by Saddiq Dzukogi

4.0

Arc provided by netgalley
...
This collection of poems is written for the poet’s daughter who died just a few days after her first birthday and to be honest I wasn’t prepared for how heart wrenching these would be. I have always found poems to be quite personal so I rarely ever pass judgment of poetry because I think it’s the one type of writing written for oneself instead of the consumption of others and we are privileged to read them
These poems did not disappoint. The writing is vivid even for poetry, the words flow and drip with a grief so thick I felt a part of their loss I had to consume these poem with breaks because of how heartbreaking they were. The writing is complex yet there is an underlying gentility that comes from the heavy theme of the poems. There are beautiful lines that leave you empty and full at the same time:“His palm is refusing to grow in his heart; the pigeons no longer come to his windowpane, just bats and dead butterflies.”...
I cannot pinpoint why the poet used third person narration for himself but it did not take away from the poetry it’s just curiosity.
This collection was heart wrenching and intimate and I am glad the author chose to share the collection with the world
My favorite poems were; a nimble darkness, internment,palms, the gown and this web.