My Common Heart

by Anne Boyer

The book deals with the grandiose love of the commune invoked by the Occupations, and in particular the attempt to hold society as such—with all its impossibilities, insanities, brilliance, and horror, society as it exists in real encounters with real people in confrontations with cops, in attempts to build consensus—within the emotional space of a single heart. The turning of the poet’s heart inside-out. The making public of a privateness sort of, but really more the turning private the publicness of a square, a city, a movement, a moment.

Genres: Poetry

36 pages, Chapbook

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is 10 years since 9/11 and poetry doesn't matter. But this here is to revive my heart to the common palpitations of dance music, to the crowd who sweats my sweat. This is the only poetry book that makes me feel like OK here's a something that actually reflects what it feels like to be half alive in this inexpressibly sad as fuck powerless paralysis of a 2012 where we pretend things matter but they don't they're just fucking status updates! Wow oh god OK this book makes me sad, or rather it just puts me back in touch with why I've been sad without knowing it for ten years, and I can't even say why I just now read it over my lunch break (it's short, read it now, it's free too, download it here) and you know how sometimes, very rarely, you read something that expresses basically everything that is the zeitgeist of what's going on in the moment in the world but nobody talks about it because it is so all-encompassing that nobody can see it enough to express it? Read this fucking book now!

[Sohum · Rating 4 out of 5]

the second brief book by anne boyer that i have read to-day...i think boyer's books frequently improve through the course of the admittedly brief texts. they are worth plodding through

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gets a tad too USA-ly specific for me after the first bit, but that bit is wonderful and relatable

[Caspar "moved to storygraph" Bryant]

kind of a banger i'm here for it

[june · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

will the world end in 2012?
will the circle be unbroken?
will the real slim shady please stand up?
will the sun explode?
will the river be cancelled?
will the wii play dvds?
will the iraqi dinar revalue?
will the superbowl be in 3D?
will the government take our guns?
will the baby move during labor?
will the titanic ever be raised?
will the world trade center ever be rebuilt?
will the south rise again?
will the price of the ipad2 go down?
will the draft be reinstated?
will the zombie apocalypse happen?

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"or for not being made for this
or for always and forever being made of this"

Really enjoyed the contemplation of what is common/human nature/existential problems.
I didn't care that much for the very America-centric political bits - while I still found them an interesting commentary and meaningful, for me they did take away from more universal emotions conveyed in this chapbook. Perhaps splitting it in half would've worked better for me personally. Still very interesting read!