A review by jheinemann287
MACNOLIA: Poems by A. Van Jordan

2.0

MacNolia Cox's story is devastating. But I didn't FEEL it in this collection as powerfully as I did while reading Claudia Rankine's [b:Citizen: An American Lyric|20613761|Citizen An American Lyric|Claudia Rankine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420944502s/20613761.jpg|39895091] or Yrsa Daley-Ward's [b:Bone|35084223|Bone|Yrsa Daley-Ward|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494857481s/35084223.jpg|42059068]. I wish I had read more about MacNolia's story and the structure of the book before I had read it: According to A. Van Jordan, he tells the story in reverse chronological order so that its progression "is one of transcendence." I kind of feel like I should go back and reread it right away.

First line: "The melody seeps through her room / Like a bad man's walk, something sexy / In one step, something sinister / In the other."