Landsickness

by Leigh Lucas

A lyric essay about young love and loss and the aftermath of a former lover’s suicide.

Landsickness explores the inelegant progress of grief and pursues a relentless search for evidence of the beloved’s presence through the physics of splashes, the history of seasickness, and the science of depression. While full of tenderness, the poems employ humor and honesty to observe the ugliness of grief and the failure of elegy to restore the dead.

From the funeral to the office of her dead-end job to navigating the streets of New York, the speaker experiences a series of blunders and false starts as she learns to cope with her new life. Still, there is a real sense of progression in the collection’s end, even as the speaker continues to ask “Why am I obsessed with the physics of his fall?"
 

Genres: Poetry

30 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2024

Reviews

[Melissa P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

💛 Won in a giveaway 🖤

This book is incredibly short, but incredibly powerful. It's a poem about grieving. It perfectly portrays someone who is going through depression. If you are depressed or have gone through a state of depression, or if you know someone who is going through it, this book is very relatable to how it feels. I understood it very well. It's sad and very well written. It probably took less than 10 minutes to read. Thank you to the author, Leigh Lucas, Tupelo Press & Goodreads for my free copy. Happy reading. 🤗

[OhioanGiraffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just received this today, signed by the author and with a beautiful handwritten card. The prose was terse and deep, I could feel her pain and identified with some of the gallows humor she used to process it, along with the objectivity of the reality of what was also a deep and personal experience. I really felt it and my heart aches for her, thank you so much for sharing this very personal part of your life.

[Katya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Landsickness is a riveting collection of poems that leave you contemplating your existence, how each of us dances with our emotions, and the depth of power an artfully chosen word can hold. Leigh Lucas has a stunning relationship with language and skillfully weaves syllables into patterns that guide her readers to gasp, laugh, bawl, and smile... sometimes all at once. This lightweight paperback is merely a juxtaposition for the rich, dense journey that awaits you on these pages. Highly recommend.

[Susan L. L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am forever altered after reading Leigh Lucas's prize-winning chapbook, LANDSICKNESS (Tupelo Press)—a devastatingly precise exploration of the absurd impossibility of re-entering your own life in the wake of profound loss. Across these pages, grief takes charge, imbuing these poems with a blend of humor, honesty, obsessiveness, and inquiry that captures the brutal and haunting sense that nothing will ever be the same. I love this book. Impressive, memorable, chilling, and one I 10/10 recommend!

[Alyssa Jarrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read poetry only on rare occasions, so I don't have the proper language to describe a book like this, but every word was beautiful and harrowing and like a gut-punch in the best way possible. What I wasn't expecting, however, was a dark humor that brought in the light even in the darkest of times. Leigh is a powerful poet, and I can't wait to read everything else she writes!

[Megan Pinto · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning debut. This is a moving and surprising portrait of grief and loss, with a fine attention to detail. So excited to follow this author and see what they publish next!

[Alice Pfeifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exquisite book of poetry—at once haunting and full of love.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the analogy of grief and drowning. This short collection of poems follows the author's trajectory of grief after losing her boyfriend. It's very heartfelt.

[Ame · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for the giveaway, I enjoyed the poems!

[Дарина Гладун · Rating 3 out of 5]

Книжка про переживання втрати, у якій вдало матеріалізовано пустку, що залишається після смерті близької людини.

[RM · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautifully written, heartfelt, heart wrenching, and also sprinkled with humor.