Florida Water: Poems

by Aja Monet

Inspired by the cleansing water often used in spiritual baths, Florida Water is an ode to the myriad ways a poem can rinse, reflect, reveal, and unravel us.

An honest meditation on migrating to South Florida for love, connection, and community, these poems lay bare the challenging dance between the role of the artist, lover, and organizer. aja monet confronts the interpersonal truths of community organizing while also uncovering the state’s fraught history with racial prejudice, maroon communities, and natural disasters. This intimate collection of lyrical poems are the artifacts of her search for belonging and healing as she wades through the rising tides of climate change, heartbreak, and systemic violence.

Genres: Poetry, African American

144 pages, Hardcover

Published June 3, 2025

Reviews

[Lukas Wierer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good collection. My favorites were:

*initiation
*the perfect storm
*is love a commons?
*castaway
*smoke signals
*it is worthy to give god praise
*a poem for agnes furey
*every media minute

[Loren Cahill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Aja Monet. Seriously, she is one of my favorite poets on the planet. I love how she’s both a poet and an organizer and doesn’t see these roles as in opposition but inextricably linked. I saw her speak at a WRBG festival one year ago, and I felt like her comments went above the room’s head. That saddened me. She’s such a brilliant, deep thinker. I wonder if she often feels lonely, being able to see all the patterns that she notices in the world. Her first book, “My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter,” lingered in my heart and mind for days after I finished it. So this sophomore anthology I had high hopes for, and it didn’t disappoint. This book is her ode to her time spent in Little Haiti, a neighborhood in Miami, FL. She moved there with her husband, and she recently got a divorce. The book is a space for her to make sense of her time spent there. The grief, the ghosts, and the grace she inherited through her many years of making this city and person her home. She plays with form and pushes the structure of her poems beyond the normal limits that I tend to encounter most often in the genre. When I can’t find the words to express a feeling I’m experiencing, I open up some Aja Monet. This text gave me words for a lot of emotions that have been swirling around in my head for the past year. I’m so grateful to have read it. This book is for people whose lives may not have gone the way they expected, but can still trace the shadows of light and darkness that they have encountered along the way. Cop this one as soon as you can. It’s a balm to healing I didn’t even know I still needed. You need it to!

[isa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miami Hawtiezz December 2025 Book Club Choice 💗

"i marvel at your tenacity
and i mourn not only for the love of your brotherhood
but also for the self in me that is only known by you.
the intimate witnessing of my loving"

"i'm what a day looks like honest and undressed"

"this trope, this boring nightmare
when a man fights for everything but you"

"the belongings of a home
sobbing on a side walk"

"how to heal in the cathedrals of hands"

in proximity to aja's friends in miami, i knew of her work but this was a whole peeling back that i needed to fully immerse myself in, about south florida and all its challenges but its loves, of appreciating a current partner but not forgetting the pain of what was built before.

[Jawanza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars. I thought her debut collection was a little bit stronger, but in fairness they are quite different. Her first one was a little more political; this one is a little more spiritual and personal. Both books transcend the narrow confines of a “poetry book” and offer roadmaps for healing, transformative thinking, and action. I cannot think of anyone of else who is currently writing this type of ground-breaking work. My favorite poems are “Hand Wash Only,” “Every Media Minute,” and “From Eternity to Eternity.”

[Hunter Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for book club. I had not read any Aja Monet before this but i was impressed by the flow she is able to create with her words. The use of sound and alliteration in her work was very cool. I also like the idea of this book being the lessons that her time in Florida and the Florida Water taught her. I do feel like we strayed from that a bit but overall I still enjoyed this one.

[grace :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had the opportunity to get this book before it was published at an event the poet hosted at my school! such a great conversation about poetry, community, and liberation!

[Anna Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Aja Monet was to start her own cult I could be first in line to join. I love her music and her poetry and it always comes to me when I need it most.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"i want a god no american can worship
i want a god who doesn't want to be worshiped
who isn't insecure
or condescending."

Loved all the word play in this collection!!

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read!!! Aja Monet's writing is simply genius.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is everything. I sat with this and absorbed and know this is going to stick with me for some time.