A review by tayler_liberationislit
BloodFresh by Ebony Stewart
4.0
BloodFresh is a mix of personal and political, as if the two aren’t interchangeable. There is revolution and evolution in these poems. We see Stewart grapple with concepts like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all their intersections, from both the point of view of the oppressed and ally.
I was not expecting the visual style of the poems; many of them resemble a piece of prose. However, the poems are fun, playing with sentence structure, capitalization, and word spelling. Many of the poems are written conversationally. I have seen Stewart perform her poems several times, so I read them in my head as if I were imagining them being spoken aloud. There was that edge to them to make them lyrical.
My favorite poem is Tantrums or How to be a Poet in Six Steps. It is a gentle dance between writing and mental health. For me, it whispered subtle truths for my own life, sending reverberations through me. The best poetry always does that for me. All her poems give me good vibes.
I read BloodFresh before I read Stewart’s other book Home.Girl.Hood. Part of me wishes I read them in order to see the growth from one collection to the other. Even though I didn’t read them in order, BloodFresh got me excited to read her other collection. You should read this book if you are looking to be moved by powerful poems that speak on mental health, vulnerability, and liberation.
I was not expecting the visual style of the poems; many of them resemble a piece of prose. However, the poems are fun, playing with sentence structure, capitalization, and word spelling. Many of the poems are written conversationally. I have seen Stewart perform her poems several times, so I read them in my head as if I were imagining them being spoken aloud. There was that edge to them to make them lyrical.
My favorite poem is Tantrums or How to be a Poet in Six Steps. It is a gentle dance between writing and mental health. For me, it whispered subtle truths for my own life, sending reverberations through me. The best poetry always does that for me. All her poems give me good vibes.
I read BloodFresh before I read Stewart’s other book Home.Girl.Hood. Part of me wishes I read them in order to see the growth from one collection to the other. Even though I didn’t read them in order, BloodFresh got me excited to read her other collection. You should read this book if you are looking to be moved by powerful poems that speak on mental health, vulnerability, and liberation.