Preparing My Daughter For Rain

by Key Ballah

A book of lessons dedicated to our daughters and future daughters, on how to survive.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Nonfiction, Parenting, American, 21st Century, Family

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2014

Reviews

[Anisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every bit of this book.The poems were simple to read yet power packed. It forgave and calmed. It empowered and enlightened. I might have highlighted almost three quarters of the book. I think that just about anybody can relate to atleast a few lines in this book.

'Somewhere in your beautiful mind lives the distant memory, of loving only the sound of
my voice and the slow hammer of my heart, you trusted me before you knew me.
So if you question your capability to love fully, remember you have loved before, and you will love again'

'My mother named me the same way they
name hurricanes,
something gentle on the tongue and
dangerous to the heart. '

Definite re read.

[Ebony Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll write a review when I stop weeping.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 Stars

This poetry collection contains poems that wish to inspire, teach, and help future daughters. Overall it was a nice concept, but not much actually resonated with me. I mostly found it all a bit repetitive and so that's why I'm giving this book a 2-star rating. I expected more from this read.

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, sweet but good collection of mother/daughter poetry that I read while commuting. Would have liked to see the writing a bit longer, since the ending even though powerful left me wanting some more.

[Giulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was like hearing my mother whispering to my ears from the afterlife.

[Nikita Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Key Ballah is simply love and strength.

[Autumn Aurelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Key Ballah's 'Preparing My Daughter For Rain' was the perfect introduction to poetry for me. I've been wanting to delve into poetry for a long while, but have felt intimated by a lack of knowledge or understanding. I have been far too afraid that the beauty of poetry would escape me, somehow.

Ballah is an astonishing writer. She captures everyday feelings with such exquisite light and grace. Her poems sent shivers to the very core of my being, and made me see that I'm worth more than how society makes me feel. While I don't expect this feeling to last very long, I will remember it fondly every time I recall her poems.

From the title to the very last page, I breathed in every drop of what Ballah had to say, and I could imagine her child reading these words one day with such gratitude.

This collection of poetry is a gift to the soul; not just for your daughter, but for your friend, your lover, a stranger in the street. This book will be carried with me for as long as I shall live.

Thank you, Key, for introducing me to poetry again. <3

(Side note: I do wish this book had been longer. I finished it in one sitting, and I found myself craving so much more.)

[Maittri · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are poems about self-love, love for one's homeland, destructive relationships. Some of the writing was great. It was something new. Some of it fell so flat that I cant give it more than 2.5 stars.

[Tahmina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, similar to Waheed and Kaur except this collection is more the more spiritual side of womanhood and God. I'd definitely give this to my daughter if I had one. 4.5/5

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was reading the first part of this collection, I was convinced it would be a 5 star read. “The Body” opens with truthful and profound observations about how women, especially women of colour, feel about their bodies and when I read:

“Have you ever looked at your body without the lens of your colonized mind?”

I was shook. I paused reading just to ponder on that line and I uncovered some ugly truths that made me want to really focus on unlearning all my self hate from years of believing Eurocentric white beauty standards. I felt like the writer was talking to me with some of the lines in this section and I was really feeling this collection... until I got the second part: “The Heart”.

I read most of the poems with a detached interest just trying to get through them. I think the reason I just found this section especially weak was because it was very heteronormative and as a gay woman, I just can’t read any more poems about straight relationships. I’ve read way way waaaayyyy too many now my eyes kind of glaze over when it’s talking about “he/him”. This isn’t Ballah’s fault ofc, other readers may have loved this and related to it but it’s just obviously not for me!

Now the best work really came in with “The Land” as Ballah unflinchingly writes about how slavery and immigration affects black identity. I highlighted and bookmarked the entire section because of how poignant and cutting it was. I am so happy I read this especially as I’m starting my own exploration of immigration and my identity. If Ballah ever published an entire collection just on the themes she talks about in “The Land”, I would rush to buy it.

“We are blatant with our self-hate,
every time they ask us where,
we jump at the chance to say every place
our limbs have brushed
but forget to tell them where our blood
was born”

After that, it gets more religious /about God which I wasn’t really feeling but I did appreciate the self-love and healing elements.

Overall, I think “The Body” and “The Land” easily make this a 5* read but I’m giving it 4/5 because of the parts I felt lacked / couldn’t relate to. It’s probably unfair to do that and I know it’s mostly me being exhausted with straight narratives and religion but here we are.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no secret for anyone, I recently got deeply into feminist contemporary poetry and short stories. I binge-read "SALT", "Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth", "Milk & Honey" (I name these books cause I feel like they're the most popular ones at the moment), and scrolled through hundreds of poems online, all having to do with being a woman in a world ruled by men.

My only fear when I bought this was that it could've been a little repetitive considering how much of these I'm reading ; the last thing I want to be is bored by this kind of literature. It. didn't. get. boring. It was so touching, it actually made me tear up three times, and whereas I cry a lot when I watch movies or listen to music, I hardly cry when I read, especially poetry.
I'm giving it 4 starts cause I didn't love everything everything, but a whole 80% of it.
There were parts where I disagreed with the author, especially about men's hands' aftereffects and f/m love and relationships in general. Apart from this, Key Ballah made me feel loved and strong, as well as privileged. The thing I felt the most the whole book though, was the pride of being a woman, of being a daughter and eventually a mother one day, and is there something more precious in life than this?

[Saoirse Lennon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was severely disappointed with this. There were some good lines and concepts but it felt lazy. I wish I’d known the poetry would be ‘instagram style’ before buying. I hoped for something like Ocean Vuong. I wanted weight to every word and I got nothing from it at all. There were grammar and spelling mistakes too, so that just made it feel more lazy. It felt like a first draft of a poetry book.

[Bek Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a far fall (for me, personally) from my more recent poetry endeavors, but I enjoyed the sentiment and mostly “The Body” section. I suppose if you like Rupi Kaur, you would enjoy this.

[Melissa Sibley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely. Ballah's prose poetry can best be seen as an abundant multitude of frank-toned, resonant feeling and quaint, unfettering thoughts...

Humbly encapsulates the hard/soft dichotomy that decorates life.

(Yes, it made me cry. A lot.)

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

i had high expectations for this book but most of the poems fell flat and were quite shallow and choppy. if you like rupi kaur, this book is probably for you

[Manika · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Kirabo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I’m reading this. That’s how good it is!

[Regan Parkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 4/5

Very sweet style of poems that felt exactly like a mother’s advice. It was full of wisdom and experience and compassion and bluntness and gentleness in all the right proportions. I especially loved the to-do or checklist poems.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

"So if you ever question your capability to love fully, remember you have loved before, and you will love again." <3

[ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5* RTC

[Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply Beautiful

[Rabiaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Key is about to become one of my favourite writers.
Her style is powerful,smooth,elegant and spiritual.
If poetry is the art of transforming anguish into flower,
then Key is a careful gardener.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

A super quick read. Had some lovely lines and imagery, but overall it was underwhelming. It isn’t really my kind of poetry, though.

[Amaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preparing My Daughter for Rain is collection of poetry, some of which were well written with interesting mother-daughter backstory and others, not so much.

[Amanda Hodgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is real power in the author’s words. Many important life lessons contained in this small package. Giving words to live by that are memorable to me in this moment in my life. 🖊️ ♥️ i haven’t read a lot of poetry and I really enjoyed this.

[Gesuush · Rating 5 out of 5]

the most beautiful book <3

[Alaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give this book to my daughter, my sisters, my cousins, my friends, everyone.

Her poetry is so moving MashaAllah and I had to read every poem more than once to fully appreciate it before I can move on to the next. Each one is better than the other.

Just MashaAllah MashaAllah if you're looking for poetry about the body, self love, the soul, God, the heart, heartbreak and the land then I would really recommend this.

God bless her.

[Azânia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esse livro, junto com Salt, é a minha coleção favorita de poemas. Amei tantos que não consigo escolher um favorito, mas um trecho parece que foi escrito pra mim:

"My mother named me the same way they name hurricanes, something gentle on the tongue and dangerous to the heart."

Eu te venero, Key Ballah

[Jess Kline · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the mother of two little girls, these poems resonated with me, and I found myself highlighting something on almost every page. The poems are beautiful, yet simple and easy to understand. One of my favorites:

"I pray that the pain of this life, never ever tightens your throat, or hardens your heart. It is better to be a pile of soft bones, than a wall, made entirely of concrete. I love you."

[Megan Staunton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and emotive collection of poetry, similar to Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey, but relates more with spirituality and God.