Asuras

by Jayinee Basu

"I like writers who believe in the word with every bone, and Jayinee Basu is one of those poets who writes with her flesh, her skin, with every hair on her body, with every single one of her bones. When I was reading Asuras, it occurred to me that I was imagining its author as a kind of double-edged one side sharpened very thin with a poisoned edge, the other a kind of mirror in which poetry made us softer, more meticulous, more sincere with our dreams. -Luna Miguel, author of Bluebird and Other Tattoos

Unknown Binding

First published February 9, 2015

Reviews

[Frances Dinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every poetry book I read this year will have to compete with this funny, sincere collection.

Some favorite lines:
you uttering my name / I clutch like a medallion / in my sleep.

to a casual masochist a simple pleasure is never simple.

any emotion worth / having can be / felt by a dog

[Andrew Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

My best attempt at a review for this book of poems may be to just say I believe this book hopes you'll avert your eyes long enough from the internet that it can feed you drugs and have sex with you; or maybe it just wants to blow smoke in your face.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A Culminating and Impending Desert” is the stand out entry in this collection of poems. Other favorites include:
- Dawn
- Within that Half a Tab
- On Later Falling Apart