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Lone Yellow Flower
Lone Yellow Flower simmers with a quiet and often lonely fury that eventually turns into energy and knowledge. These poems circulate the body through the veins of nonconformity, emphasizing what love can look like when laid bare. Rather than define itself, this collection resists categorization, offering us a new way to consider allowing access to one's inner truth. Does anyone deserve the luxury of our honest selves? Do we owe our pain to the world? Gill masterfully attends to these questions and more by telling it "we've gestated nothing but rage." Here, I believe, is where Gill wants us to start. —Monica Prince, author of A Choreopoem
Rendered in pigeon wing and trachea, worm and teeth, incense and exhaust, Erika Gill's Lone Yellow Flower manifests the world—ragged, raw, and beautiful—as scrying pools to peer into interiority, to see love and rage and sorrow riot, writhe, and swirl. This is a book for anyone who has stood before the opened earth and let the scent of loam take them elsewhere, for anyone who has cut their palm and saw there an unspoken language. "a millstone at my neck / toss me in the mossy pond / my craft would make me float" —Todd Dillard, author of Ways We Vanish and Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance
Rendered in pigeon wing and trachea, worm and teeth, incense and exhaust, Erika Gill's Lone Yellow Flower manifests the world—ragged, raw, and beautiful—as scrying pools to peer into interiority, to see love and rage and sorrow riot, writhe, and swirl. This is a book for anyone who has stood before the opened earth and let the scent of loam take them elsewhere, for anyone who has cut their palm and saw there an unspoken language. "a millstone at my neck / toss me in the mossy pond / my craft would make me float" —Todd Dillard, author of Ways We Vanish and Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance
104 pages, Paperback
Published April 18, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 11, 2025
reading more poetry lately since i wanted to get more into it and thought i would try out this one. sadly, it wasn't really for me.
my main issue was the writing itself, i only liked to poems called romantic notions and what makes you leave. other than that the poems didn't really work for me personally. i'm still glad i tried it out and it's always hard to review poetry books but based on how many poems i actually enjoyed, this book was not my favourite.
my main issue was the writing itself, i only liked to poems called romantic notions and what makes you leave. other than that the poems didn't really work for me personally. i'm still glad i tried it out and it's always hard to review poetry books but based on how many poems i actually enjoyed, this book was not my favourite.
July 5, 2025
Before I get into my review, I feel I must say that poetry has evolved through the years and is (in my opinion) the type of writing where things are more subjective than objective. For that reason I feel I cannot give anything less than 5 Stars.
Yakoke (thank you) to NetGalley and Querencia Press for providing a Kindle ARC in exchange for an honest review. "Lone Yellow Flower" by Erika Gill is the first poetry book I have read by a non-Native poet in nearly a decade. That said, I am by no means an expert, though I have written and published poetry myself. Erika's writing style varies throughout the book and I loved every bit of their writing style. There were parts that weren't for me – but also many more parts that were. I think one of the beautiful things about poetry – that there is something for everyone – but it's rare to find that in one book all at once.
These poems are for the lovers, those experiencing heartbreak, the angry activists, the travelers, and everyone in between.
When reviewing books I try not to draw comparisons to others so directly, and almost don't want to include this, but I think:
Erika Gill is the Rupi Kaur of the Black community. Perhaps that is not the most eloquent way to say it but I truly mean that to be a compliment as I think of all of the times I saw Rupi Kaur's work celebrated on Tumblr and the discourse that accompanied her name at one point. When I was looking for an alternative to Milk and honey but from a Black writer, this is what I was looking for.
"I am black power and white guilt" was an instant highlight and star. "I am America whether she wants me or not." Powerful beyond words that I possess. "Epitome" was easily my favorite poem in this collection and set my hopes high from the first page. There were so many notes I took and I would love nothing more than to give my thoughts on this book bit by bit. The content of these poems and the way they are written beautifully captures emotions like anger, like the indescribable feelings that come from absenteeism parenting, the state of the nation. Themes like love, loss, life and death, and mental health combined with words that paint the stories being told on the page in a way that is cinema in your mind as you read along is something I noticed over and over again. I have always found this rare no matter who the author is because it's so easy to compile clichés or over-speak like you're reciting what you've memorized from a dictionary. Erika's writing is relatable and throughout this read I found bits of home in their writing – from flights LAX to OKC to visit my grandmother and the dog food factory in her town I now call home. "Begone, Girl" and "The Dying Year" were another two poems in my top five because of this.
Now, to the writing and what I can critique comfortably: I feel like there are poems with good points of literary devices like repetition, but then because of the formatting (or maybe the lack of classical poetic devices used, at least as far as they've been taught to me) I made note of at least two poems where I wondered if repetition of uncommon words was meant to tie one to the previous. I found that I had a handful of questions about halfway through the book. There were times repetition felt intentional and artistic but times where I wondered if maybe my eyes had skipped a line because I felt it stunted the flow. Coincidentally, "Yellow irises", the poem I felt was the title poem given the yellow flower concept, was also around the midpoint so I assume the almost staggered way the poems were written and ordered was intentional to the overall flow of themes even if it wasn't as glaringly obvious as other works I've read.
For the flow of my review I didn't include this at the start but perhaps I should have: I would love to read a collection of prose or short stories from Erika as the level of description is amazing throughout each poem. Though I'm not sure if it's intentional and this is the first time I've run into their work, Erika's writing reads almost as if it should be delivered as slam poetry quite often. While I would have formatted the book differently, perhaps in sections by topic, I can't deny that I enjoyed most of what I read and appreciated what I didn't particularly like just the same. To be biracial is somehow still so hard in 2025 and I think Erika captured that perfectly, along with all of the other topics delivered.
And of course I have to mention the author bio included at the end of the book. To see "lives, writes and builds community on unceded Tséstho'e (Cheyenne), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ [meaning "Seven Council Fires" and referring to the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota tribes], hinono'eino' biito'owu' (Arapaho), and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) land in Denver, Colorado" in the first sentence filled my heart so greatly as a mixed Native woman of the Choctaw Nation. Yakoke fehna (thank you so/very much) to Erika Gill for recognizing the people of my people.
Yakoke (thank you) to NetGalley and Querencia Press for providing a Kindle ARC in exchange for an honest review. "Lone Yellow Flower" by Erika Gill is the first poetry book I have read by a non-Native poet in nearly a decade. That said, I am by no means an expert, though I have written and published poetry myself. Erika's writing style varies throughout the book and I loved every bit of their writing style. There were parts that weren't for me – but also many more parts that were. I think one of the beautiful things about poetry – that there is something for everyone – but it's rare to find that in one book all at once.
These poems are for the lovers, those experiencing heartbreak, the angry activists, the travelers, and everyone in between.
When reviewing books I try not to draw comparisons to others so directly, and almost don't want to include this, but I think:
Erika Gill is the Rupi Kaur of the Black community. Perhaps that is not the most eloquent way to say it but I truly mean that to be a compliment as I think of all of the times I saw Rupi Kaur's work celebrated on Tumblr and the discourse that accompanied her name at one point. When I was looking for an alternative to Milk and honey but from a Black writer, this is what I was looking for.
"I am black power and white guilt" was an instant highlight and star. "I am America whether she wants me or not." Powerful beyond words that I possess. "Epitome" was easily my favorite poem in this collection and set my hopes high from the first page. There were so many notes I took and I would love nothing more than to give my thoughts on this book bit by bit. The content of these poems and the way they are written beautifully captures emotions like anger, like the indescribable feelings that come from absenteeism parenting, the state of the nation. Themes like love, loss, life and death, and mental health combined with words that paint the stories being told on the page in a way that is cinema in your mind as you read along is something I noticed over and over again. I have always found this rare no matter who the author is because it's so easy to compile clichés or over-speak like you're reciting what you've memorized from a dictionary. Erika's writing is relatable and throughout this read I found bits of home in their writing – from flights LAX to OKC to visit my grandmother and the dog food factory in her town I now call home. "Begone, Girl" and "The Dying Year" were another two poems in my top five because of this.
Now, to the writing and what I can critique comfortably: I feel like there are poems with good points of literary devices like repetition, but then because of the formatting (or maybe the lack of classical poetic devices used, at least as far as they've been taught to me) I made note of at least two poems where I wondered if repetition of uncommon words was meant to tie one to the previous. I found that I had a handful of questions about halfway through the book. There were times repetition felt intentional and artistic but times where I wondered if maybe my eyes had skipped a line because I felt it stunted the flow. Coincidentally, "Yellow irises", the poem I felt was the title poem given the yellow flower concept, was also around the midpoint so I assume the almost staggered way the poems were written and ordered was intentional to the overall flow of themes even if it wasn't as glaringly obvious as other works I've read.
For the flow of my review I didn't include this at the start but perhaps I should have: I would love to read a collection of prose or short stories from Erika as the level of description is amazing throughout each poem. Though I'm not sure if it's intentional and this is the first time I've run into their work, Erika's writing reads almost as if it should be delivered as slam poetry quite often. While I would have formatted the book differently, perhaps in sections by topic, I can't deny that I enjoyed most of what I read and appreciated what I didn't particularly like just the same. To be biracial is somehow still so hard in 2025 and I think Erika captured that perfectly, along with all of the other topics delivered.
And of course I have to mention the author bio included at the end of the book. To see "lives, writes and builds community on unceded Tséstho'e (Cheyenne), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ [meaning "Seven Council Fires" and referring to the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota tribes], hinono'eino' biito'owu' (Arapaho), and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) land in Denver, Colorado" in the first sentence filled my heart so greatly as a mixed Native woman of the Choctaw Nation. Yakoke fehna (thank you so/very much) to Erika Gill for recognizing the people of my people.
April 23, 2025
Of course I think it deserves five stars, I wrote it :]
April 16, 2025
Thank you NetGalley and Querencia Press for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Lone Yellow Flower is a collection of poems written by Erika Gill discussing themes of toxic love, being biracial, and complex relationships with your mother and ultimately, I think it was a little bit of a disappointment.
Before I begin, I think readers who are Rupi Kaur and Silvia Plath and their style of writing might have a chance to really like this, which is a compliment because Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey was clearly an influence and mentioned within Lone Yellow Flower. Overall, I really appreciate the Own Voices element of the collection and there were sections of certain poems that I really liked. I also think that Gill's descriptions of landscapes were beautiful and it is clear they are a talented writer.
Saying that, I am rating this 1.5 stars. Mostly, because I do think that this poetry collection needed another round of editing. For example, in the first poem (in the arc), “what is this”, the first 6 lines could have been cut out and it would have improved the poem greatly. Also, the poems usually got better in the second half of the poem compared to the first so the writing quality was improving as the poem went on. Some other comments:
Depth/Meaning - I think my biggest issue with the entire collection was that a lot of the poems didn’t seem to have any meaning to them (or the theme/messaging was unclear). While the poems themselves can be pretty line-by-line, there isn’t much room for critical or literary analysis - which takes away from the memorability and enjoyability of the poems. The confusion of messaging is not helped that the poems often do not clarify key information like subjects. For example, the use of you is used several times but I struggled figuring out who the “you” was referring to. For the poems that were attempting to say something, I found that a lot of them lacked depth. The meanings were surface level and I really wished the poems had had further conversations with the reader, because some of the topics were really interesting (being bi-racial, toxic love, etc.). To me, the messaging of a poem is what makes it enjoyable and I just don’t think a lot of the poems were developed enough yet.
Structure/Grammar - for a poetry collection, I am surprised that there wasn’t really an exploration or breaking of traditional structure (since playing with structure is much a big part of poetry). I think that the collection would have benefited from breaking away from the norm to make certain poems standout. Also, there are very few poems that have stanzas and I think most of them really need it. Each poem tends to jump around to different ideas (part of what makes the messaging of the poems so confusing) and really could have used stanzas to organise each idea. Also, some lines didn’t follow or flow nicely into the next one so at least the stanza would clarify why the poem was jumping around so much. Furthermore, there are basically no periods or commas (that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there's not a lot), which I think could have been used better. I don’t really understand why there was no punctuation (ex. to make one theme or poem standout) and it really negatively impacted my reading experience as I spent so long trying to figure out why.
Flow - I also wish the collection was more intentional about the placement of the poems. I didn’t really see the connection from one poem to another or reason as to why a poem was selected. The collection jumps from talking about being biracial - to toxic moms - to talking about romantic partners and I don’t see the why behind that decision. I feel like it would be more impactful if we read all the poems around a theme to get a complete picture which would help with clarification around messaging. At the end of the arc, it was stated that some of these poems were previously published and I think it's noticeable (not in a goodway) that these are separately written poems added into a collection rather than poems written for a collection.
On a side note, I felt like some of the literary devices were awkward and that the poems really needed more of them. For example, in one poem (IN THE ARC) the speaker gets compared to a moldy tupperware but I really couldn’t tell what that had to do with the poem's meaning. It just took me out of the reading experience.
Final note: I think if readers who are a fan of this author’s previous work, are a huge fan of this brand of poetry (Slyvia Plath, Rupi Kaur, etc.) or the themes seem interesting, should try and pick it up to see if they like it and I do think there are some nice poems within the collection. Unfortunately, it was not the poetry collection for me.
Lone Yellow Flower is a collection of poems written by Erika Gill discussing themes of toxic love, being biracial, and complex relationships with your mother and ultimately, I think it was a little bit of a disappointment.
Before I begin, I think readers who are Rupi Kaur and Silvia Plath and their style of writing might have a chance to really like this, which is a compliment because Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey was clearly an influence and mentioned within Lone Yellow Flower. Overall, I really appreciate the Own Voices element of the collection and there were sections of certain poems that I really liked. I also think that Gill's descriptions of landscapes were beautiful and it is clear they are a talented writer.
Saying that, I am rating this 1.5 stars. Mostly, because I do think that this poetry collection needed another round of editing. For example, in the first poem (in the arc), “what is this”, the first 6 lines could have been cut out and it would have improved the poem greatly. Also, the poems usually got better in the second half of the poem compared to the first so the writing quality was improving as the poem went on. Some other comments:
Depth/Meaning - I think my biggest issue with the entire collection was that a lot of the poems didn’t seem to have any meaning to them (or the theme/messaging was unclear). While the poems themselves can be pretty line-by-line, there isn’t much room for critical or literary analysis - which takes away from the memorability and enjoyability of the poems. The confusion of messaging is not helped that the poems often do not clarify key information like subjects. For example, the use of you is used several times but I struggled figuring out who the “you” was referring to. For the poems that were attempting to say something, I found that a lot of them lacked depth. The meanings were surface level and I really wished the poems had had further conversations with the reader, because some of the topics were really interesting (being bi-racial, toxic love, etc.). To me, the messaging of a poem is what makes it enjoyable and I just don’t think a lot of the poems were developed enough yet.
Structure/Grammar - for a poetry collection, I am surprised that there wasn’t really an exploration or breaking of traditional structure (since playing with structure is much a big part of poetry). I think that the collection would have benefited from breaking away from the norm to make certain poems standout. Also, there are very few poems that have stanzas and I think most of them really need it. Each poem tends to jump around to different ideas (part of what makes the messaging of the poems so confusing) and really could have used stanzas to organise each idea. Also, some lines didn’t follow or flow nicely into the next one so at least the stanza would clarify why the poem was jumping around so much. Furthermore, there are basically no periods or commas (that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there's not a lot), which I think could have been used better. I don’t really understand why there was no punctuation (ex. to make one theme or poem standout) and it really negatively impacted my reading experience as I spent so long trying to figure out why.
Flow - I also wish the collection was more intentional about the placement of the poems. I didn’t really see the connection from one poem to another or reason as to why a poem was selected. The collection jumps from talking about being biracial - to toxic moms - to talking about romantic partners and I don’t see the why behind that decision. I feel like it would be more impactful if we read all the poems around a theme to get a complete picture which would help with clarification around messaging. At the end of the arc, it was stated that some of these poems were previously published and I think it's noticeable (not in a goodway) that these are separately written poems added into a collection rather than poems written for a collection.
On a side note, I felt like some of the literary devices were awkward and that the poems really needed more of them. For example, in one poem (IN THE ARC) the speaker gets compared to a moldy tupperware but I really couldn’t tell what that had to do with the poem's meaning. It just took me out of the reading experience.
Final note: I think if readers who are a fan of this author’s previous work, are a huge fan of this brand of poetry (Slyvia Plath, Rupi Kaur, etc.) or the themes seem interesting, should try and pick it up to see if they like it and I do think there are some nice poems within the collection. Unfortunately, it was not the poetry collection for me.
May 2, 2025
The poems written in Lone Yellow Flower are not your typical teenage love poems that have become popular in the last few years. These poems very relatable in a raw dark way. I enjoyed “ Song in the key of Why?” and “ I Sought Refuge Where The Rocks Cleft” the most. I also enjoyed the imagery created by Erika Gill, you could see and feel the emotion in her writing.
Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for this ARC read.
Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for this ARC read.
September 27, 2025
Lone Yellow Flower certainly simmers with potential and Gill's imagery and lexical choice are potent at times. The constrained structure of the poems, however, left me wanting as a reader. Images underdeveloped or extended metaphor unexplored. At times a leaning on vocabulary so there is more style than substance. Consequently, none of the poems dug their claws into me or sparked something. It is a collection that is enjoyable while read but lacks any lasting impact.
March 20, 2025
Arc review:
This was not my favorite poetry I've read.
I enjoyed some of the poems like : what is worth?, coexist & romantic notions.
But I had the feeling I did not understand every poem, which is totally on me and might be because English is not my 1st language.
But it is the reason I'm giving it a 3/5.
Not because it is a bad book or badly written, but because I just don't understand a big part of the poems.
I do think it's worth the try to read is.
It's not a long book, and there are really good poems in there!
Please give it a try you are at doubt!
I want to thank everyone involved with me getting the arc.
This was not my favorite poetry I've read.
I enjoyed some of the poems like : what is worth?, coexist & romantic notions.
But I had the feeling I did not understand every poem, which is totally on me and might be because English is not my 1st language.
But it is the reason I'm giving it a 3/5.
Not because it is a bad book or badly written, but because I just don't understand a big part of the poems.
I do think it's worth the try to read is.
It's not a long book, and there are really good poems in there!
Please give it a try you are at doubt!
I want to thank everyone involved with me getting the arc.
April 10, 2025
The poetry in Lone Yellow Flower by Erika Gill is both grisly and delicate, just like the wound of heartbreak that the speaker explores. The poems in this collection are confessional, tactile, and studded with gut-punching moments.
Hands, fingers, and touch take up space in a lot of the poems, and it's an intriguing motif I recommend annotating. Hand imagery begins In the first poem with a haunting, defiant statement: "my hands cannot be put to rest." I immediately imagined the poet's hands at work writing the 50 poems we read in this collection.
What I love about all the hand imagery is that it is brought full circle at the end. We face the idea of the poet's unresting hands again in the final poem where they describe fingers forced open, forced to let everything held fall to the floor.
I'm still wrestling with the final image of an open hand that's actively letting go. Selfishly, the lines made me think of my own fingers holding this collection. What if the poet is speaking to me, the reader finishing the last poem of their book? In a way, by finishing the book, the speaker is naturally forcing the book out of my grasp. There's no more poems to read after all. Inevitably, after this last poem, Lone Yellow Flower will fall from my hands and go on the shelf.
This collection is perfect for readers who are...
Interested in deglamorized explorations of mind-body connections* and healing therapies (like mindfulness, yoga, singing bowls...)
Not squeamish about grisly imagery, e.g., blood and organs
fans of Silvia Plath, Adrienne Rich (who is mentioned in the collection), Audre Lorde, Anne Sexton
* Because of the specifically intestinal, visceral imagery in the poems, I thought often the vagus nerve and how connected our gut health is with mental health as I read. The vagus nerve is never explicitly mentioned, but I felt like it was being discussed in the poems.
I highlighted and annotated a lot of patterns in this collection, to include:
Hands, fingers
Heartbreak
feeling severed / unmoored
flight attending poems
consumption/ craving/ sugar / waste themes (very layered)
slow healing
nature
Paris
astrology
bookishness
Favorite Motif to Annotate: Humpty Dumpty
I was super intrigued by how all these poems all have Humpty Dumpty imagery and themes of falling.
Broken pipe/May 24/ Death toll 97,672
Slime
Skyline view
In my dreams I am a runner
Lilacs in the alley
If it comes
Favorite Poems
Doomscrolling
No Left; Child Behind
Coffee and strawberries
E-Reader Friendly Poems
Don't hesitate to get this collection as an e-book. The formatting of Erika Gill's poems are ideal for the e-book reading experience because the poems:
are typically one page long,
have consistent left alignment without indentations, and
feature mostly short lines.
I comfortably read the poems on my Kindle with the font size set to size 4 (and sometimes larger.) I read in portrait orientation for most of the collection, only switching to landscape for a few of the poems that had longer
Hands, fingers, and touch take up space in a lot of the poems, and it's an intriguing motif I recommend annotating. Hand imagery begins In the first poem with a haunting, defiant statement: "my hands cannot be put to rest." I immediately imagined the poet's hands at work writing the 50 poems we read in this collection.
What I love about all the hand imagery is that it is brought full circle at the end. We face the idea of the poet's unresting hands again in the final poem where they describe fingers forced open, forced to let everything held fall to the floor.
I'm still wrestling with the final image of an open hand that's actively letting go. Selfishly, the lines made me think of my own fingers holding this collection. What if the poet is speaking to me, the reader finishing the last poem of their book? In a way, by finishing the book, the speaker is naturally forcing the book out of my grasp. There's no more poems to read after all. Inevitably, after this last poem, Lone Yellow Flower will fall from my hands and go on the shelf.
This collection is perfect for readers who are...
Interested in deglamorized explorations of mind-body connections* and healing therapies (like mindfulness, yoga, singing bowls...)
Not squeamish about grisly imagery, e.g., blood and organs
fans of Silvia Plath, Adrienne Rich (who is mentioned in the collection), Audre Lorde, Anne Sexton
* Because of the specifically intestinal, visceral imagery in the poems, I thought often the vagus nerve and how connected our gut health is with mental health as I read. The vagus nerve is never explicitly mentioned, but I felt like it was being discussed in the poems.
I highlighted and annotated a lot of patterns in this collection, to include:
Hands, fingers
Heartbreak
feeling severed / unmoored
flight attending poems
consumption/ craving/ sugar / waste themes (very layered)
slow healing
nature
Paris
astrology
bookishness
Favorite Motif to Annotate: Humpty Dumpty
I was super intrigued by how all these poems all have Humpty Dumpty imagery and themes of falling.
Broken pipe/May 24/ Death toll 97,672
Slime
Skyline view
In my dreams I am a runner
Lilacs in the alley
If it comes
Favorite Poems
Doomscrolling
No Left; Child Behind
Coffee and strawberries
E-Reader Friendly Poems
Don't hesitate to get this collection as an e-book. The formatting of Erika Gill's poems are ideal for the e-book reading experience because the poems:
are typically one page long,
have consistent left alignment without indentations, and
feature mostly short lines.
I comfortably read the poems on my Kindle with the font size set to size 4 (and sometimes larger.) I read in portrait orientation for most of the collection, only switching to landscape for a few of the poems that had longer
April 17, 2025
I have complicated feelings about Lone Yellow Flower. This poetry collection follows a breakup and the subsequent emotions experienced. With a poem referencing Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, it is easy to draw some sort of comparison between the two. However, this collection is more gritty and dark, but I would recommend for enjoyers of the Kaur collection looking for a different flavor. Unfortunately, the style of this collection is not to my taste. As a former curator of novice poetry submissions and a frequent writer of novice poems inspired by terse relationships, I feel justified in saying the poetry feels a bit under-cooked and misshapen. I think that this could have had more integrity as a chapbook and more workshopping on the specific poems. For instance, one of my favorite poems, likely the title poem being referenced in the book cover, "Yellow irises" impressed me in its imagery and word usage, where many poems employed mixed metaphors, cliches, and over-complicated word choice. And hey! I get it! I struggle with keeping my poems on track and mixing metaphors. I always want to use my new vocabulary word in a poem even when it doesn't add anything to the poem except for making me feel erudite. However... I have not published a 70+ page poetry collection. Yet, I sincerely hope that this book reaches its audience... I just need to be more comfortable putting down poetry arcs after the first few poems don't pop for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia Press for access to this arc in exchange for an honest review. <3
Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia Press for access to this arc in exchange for an honest review. <3
March 27, 2025
🌼 thank you to netgalley and querencia press for the arc 💕
Poetry can be hard for me to review because it feels a bit like opening someone’s diary and critiquing it.
“It's been a hundred fifty some-odd years of fallow fields but my hands hold ghosts that plowed them and ghosts that owned them, and my hands cannot be put to rest.”
One of my favorite things about poetry is reading about life experiences I will never live through. It’s eye opening, it’s hauntingly beautiful and terrifying all at once. Erika does such a perfect job of letting us in to experience what they have.
My other favorite thing is when those differences meet and say, “hey, I’ve been here too. Maybe we’re not so different.” There’s a lot of both in Lone Yellow Flower. 💕
There are lines I don’t think I’ll be able to free from my head after reading them. “The Dying Year”, “The Eye”, “Coexist”- those three back to back hit me H A R D.
“your loss does not need to war with my loss
as your pain does not need to war with my pain
but instead can enmesh and rub gently along together
the uncertainty of fingers of two hands entwined.”
I’m shocked this is their first book of poetry!! I can’t wait to see what else they put out 💖
Poetry can be hard for me to review because it feels a bit like opening someone’s diary and critiquing it.
“It's been a hundred fifty some-odd years of fallow fields but my hands hold ghosts that plowed them and ghosts that owned them, and my hands cannot be put to rest.”
One of my favorite things about poetry is reading about life experiences I will never live through. It’s eye opening, it’s hauntingly beautiful and terrifying all at once. Erika does such a perfect job of letting us in to experience what they have.
My other favorite thing is when those differences meet and say, “hey, I’ve been here too. Maybe we’re not so different.” There’s a lot of both in Lone Yellow Flower. 💕
There are lines I don’t think I’ll be able to free from my head after reading them. “The Dying Year”, “The Eye”, “Coexist”- those three back to back hit me H A R D.
“your loss does not need to war with my loss
as your pain does not need to war with my pain
but instead can enmesh and rub gently along together
the uncertainty of fingers of two hands entwined.”
I’m shocked this is their first book of poetry!! I can’t wait to see what else they put out 💖
March 20, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Nearly every poem in this collection had at least one highlight-worthy line that spoke to me. Even if I didn’t fully “understand” each poem on first read, this is a mostly accessible chapbook, and the craft is so well-executed that I didn’t care when a message was going over my head. The words sound nice together, and I could appreciate them on that base level alone. There’s a confident competence to the writing that assures me if I sat down with this book and really analyzed it, I could interpret the intended meanings and also make some of my own.
I especially enjoyed the poems about failed relationships and current socio-political issues. Some of my favorite poems were “Epitome,” “Baggage,” “What makes you leave,” “No Left; Child Behind,” and “In my dreams I am a runner.”
This is a nice, modern collection of poems. It would be a great piece of work to revisit and dig deeper into on each read.
Nearly every poem in this collection had at least one highlight-worthy line that spoke to me. Even if I didn’t fully “understand” each poem on first read, this is a mostly accessible chapbook, and the craft is so well-executed that I didn’t care when a message was going over my head. The words sound nice together, and I could appreciate them on that base level alone. There’s a confident competence to the writing that assures me if I sat down with this book and really analyzed it, I could interpret the intended meanings and also make some of my own.
I especially enjoyed the poems about failed relationships and current socio-political issues. Some of my favorite poems were “Epitome,” “Baggage,” “What makes you leave,” “No Left; Child Behind,” and “In my dreams I am a runner.”
This is a nice, modern collection of poems. It would be a great piece of work to revisit and dig deeper into on each read.
April 20, 2025
I was attracted to this book because the author is queer and queer poetry has a very special place in my heart. While the poetry itself is not necessarily or specifically about queerness, that didn't mean I was disappointed. I would describe the poems as quite wordy and indeed many felt more like abstract fan fiction than the short and succinct poetry I've perhaps become used to in modern times, and yet there was some comfort in this. It was also like being carried on a wave, the words flowed easily, but every now and then there was a surge or a crashing wave and a line would stand out, almost splashing you in the face. Many of these occasions were lines that could stand out as social commentary also - "I am black power and white guilt", "my woman's heart, man's womb" - but most were just captured moments in time or feeling that stayed with me "I can't alter your gravity but I can pull the shorelines into a script that begs love me, love me, love, me". All in all a lovely and delightfully unusual collection of poetry.
May 20, 2025
Lone Yellow Flower is raw, dark, and beautiful. It is everything you want and need in a collection of poems. Erika Gill’s flow is profound and flawless line by line. I love the entire compilation, and anyone looking for anything from a new perspective to understanding/relatability will find it here.
April 12, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
My favorite poem is “What is Worth?” and “Romantic Notions”
Thank you NetGalley for the arc - pub date is April 18th!
My favorite poem is “What is Worth?” and “Romantic Notions”
Thank you NetGalley for the arc - pub date is April 18th!
May 3, 2025
Not my favorite. I just didn't connect with or get much from a lot of these poems.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.
September 21, 2025
Thank you Querencia Press and Net Galley for the ARC. Some of these left my jaw on the floor. One of the most powerful debut collections I've read this year.
April 19, 2025
This collection was a pleasure to read from a sensory standpoint—the phrases and images were easy to turn over in my mouth and evocative in a way that left me feeling surrounded by the images, almost in a cinematic sense. At times it felt a little self-conscious, but I’m looking forward to following this poet’s career and seeing what they put out next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia Press for this arc!
Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia Press for this arc!
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