allegiance

by Francine J. Harris

The full-length debut from francine j. harris, allegiance is about Detroit, sort of. Although many of the poems are inspired by and dwell in the spaces of the city, this collection does not revel in any of the clich? cultural tropes normally associated with Detroit. Instead, these poems artfully explore life in a city where order coexists with chaos and much is lost in social and physical breakdown. Narrative poems on the hazards, betrayals, and annoyances of city life mix with impressionistic poems that evoke the natural world, as harris grapples with issues of beauty and horror, loyalty and individuality, and memory and loss on Detroit's complicated canvas.

In twelve sections, harris introduces readers to loungers and bystanders, prisoners' wives, poets pictured on book jackets, Caravaggio's Jesus, and city priests. She leads readers past the lone house on the block that cannot be walked down, through layers of discarded objects in the high school yard, and into various classrooms, bars, and living rooms. Shorter poems highlight the persistence of nature-in water, weeds, orchids, begonias, insects, pigeons, and pheasants. Some poems convey a sense of the underbelly, desire, and disgust while others treat issues of religion, both in institutional settings and personal prayers. In her honest but unsentimental voice, harris layers personal history and rich details to explore how our surroundings shape our selves and what allegiance we owe them when they have turned almost everything to ashes.

Throughout allegiance, harris presents herself as an extraordinarily perceptive poet with a compelling and original voice. Poetry lovers will appreciate this exciting debut collection.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[Airea]

Lyrically masterful, wrought with skillful limpidity, precision and utter brilliance.

[Jonterri]

This book is not just a book of well-crafted poems. These are passionate, detailed explorations. The amount and originality of the details in these poems stood out to me the most. Many of the poems are list poems, but I felt like I wasn't just reading poetic devices, but being made to wear new skin, feel with new hands, and walk streets other than those I have known. It was almost like the poet wanted to be sure the poems were brought to life in the reader, which I appreciated. I was really taken by the structure too. Because the poems were so densely descriptive it was nice to have so much breathing room with all of the section breaks. Narratives aren't the driving forces of these poems and even though those are the poems I'm typically drawn to, I didn't feel alienated from these poems, I felt seeped in complex scenarios that resonated and still resonate with me. Definitely worth reading multiple times.

[Aricka Foreman]

Breathtaking. Haunting. Deft. Necessary.

[D'Anne]

That Francine J. Harris is amazing is hardly a well-kept secret. You can say I'm biased because I know her. I'm all right with that. But I'm still right.

[Dee]

I won this book as a Goodreads First Read.

[Luke Hillier]

One of the entries in this collection begins with the line, "i have no time to tinsel my poems" and I found that to be a pretty great summary of the collection at large. Allegiance is full of sharp-edged, rough-textured poems that depict the harsh realities of life in Detroit. Before diving in, I expected this to be right up my ally: Detroit feels like a sister city to my own Philly (particularly the parts I call home) and there's even an ongoing thread of religiosity here to boot. I also absolutely loved The Crown Ain't Worth Much which is in some ways a parallel collection written for Columbus. Unfortunately, it didn't click in the ways I would have hoped for. To be honest, this was significantly more critical and abrasive than I anticipated, but I read one reviewer suggest that it reads like a true daughter of Detroit, and only family can speak so harshly towards their own without it challenging the love and loyalty they have. Along those lines, I appreciated the recurring motif in which the city is essentially berated and slammed line after line, only for a closing that buckles under the weight of her deep-seeded affection for it (crying at her graduation, beckoning the city personified back to bed, etc.)

Quite a few of these poems are pretty jarring in their unflinching descriptions of the illicit elements of urban life, often spoken with a nonchalance that seems to add to the disturbing dissonance. Of course, you certainly can't fault Harris for sappy, overly dramatic pity trips. There are times where her appreciation for the city wins out, either in the aforementioned begrudging admissions or more directly in the flower-finding poem "i live in detroit" and of course most poignantly and powerfully in the book's eponymous climactic closer, "allegiance." That poem alone made the book worth it (which, if I'm being honest, was relieving as I wrestled with some regret over buying it rather than finding a way to borrow it). It's such a simple piece that could only be crafted by someone intimately familiar with the ebbs and flows of life in her city. Something about the small, hyper-specific details made that sing for me, the angel who knows where to find a monthly bus card or a public computer, the one climbing up the stairs with her groceries on her bad knee, the one who gives you three feet of space at the bus stop. So good! And such a good note to end on, this proclamation of holiness and honor towards the residents of this city she sometimes hates but ultimately loves.

A number of these didn't register for me; I couldn't follow them home to their point and was left underwhelmed, but there were definitely stand-outs that I really enjoyed beyond the two aforementioned. "katherine with the lazy eye, short, and not a good poet" affected me tremendously –– the final line had me sitting in silence for minutes. The three most explicitly religious poems in the "build us a jesus" section were all interesting and gave me something to think on. I thought "what you'd find buried in the dity under charles f. kettering sr. high school" to be a lot of fun and also really compelling, enjoyed "eight days until your ashes turn on one."

[Kieren]

three stars is too much but two is too little. two point three.

jesus the pimp!

he’s good at these words and they look like sticky stars on the tops of new
york skyscrapers

woe is my sex.

in fact, due to the box’s sun sign, the
box considers triangles the most formidable of configurations.

instead, i tucked music
into jacket pockets, headphones.

that sometimes you reminded me of myself, boy crazy. that sometimes
i think people just don’t tell me that i’m kind of, well. . . slow.
(this one is from
katherine with the lazy eye.
short. and not a good poet.
which is actually pretty bare & emotive & I like it)

he germ monster
from under the scaffolding
is in the cab now.
we are drunk and way past queer
(very relevant well done this is me kier speaking hello bye)

an angel would have to know when to shut the fuck up.

[Mnolololo]

This book changed the way I see poetry.

[Annette Boehm]

Francine J. Harris writes gritty, down-to-earth poems about growing up in Chicago, about real life, love, and faith. This collection has only two weak poems in it, the rest is really solid and thoroughly gripping. Read more on my blog.