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The Truth Is We Are Perfect
"Stucky's verse has the power of the best East European poets—some of his poems seem to be perfect, magnificent, and instantly anthologizable. He is a forceful, cogent, incisive phrase-maker."—Bill Knott "The yearning in these poems is awash in dense, spiritual sexuality buffeted by time and the mishandling of promises and breakable bonds."— apt The Truth Is We Are Perfect contains fifty-four lyrics exploring the loss of oneself through the loss of an other, and how we seek to recreate ourselves in that absence. Stucky journeys into nothingness and, consequently, into awareness. His meditative sensibilities and minimalist style create ritualized poems acting as spells—transcribed to be read aloud and performed in the service of realizing that which we seek to "Because I love a burning thing / I made my heart a field of fire." Janaka Stucky is the publisher of Black Ocean as well as the annual poetry journal Handsome . He is the author of two Your Name Is The Only Freedom , and The World Will Deny It For You . His poems have appeared in such journals as Denver Quarterly , Fence and North American Review , and his articles have been published by the Huffington Post and the Poetry Foundation. He is a two-time National Haiku Champion and in 2010 he was voted "Boston's Best Poet" in the Boston Phoenix .
- GenresPoetry
92 pages, Paperback
First published April 14, 2015
5 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Janaka Stucky
7 books80 followersJanaka Stucky is the author of The Truth Is We Are Perfect (Third Man Books, 2015) and the Publisher of Black Ocean as well as its annual poetry journal, Handsome. He is also the author of two chapbooks: Your Name Is The Only Freedom and The World Will Deny It For You. His poems have appeared in such journals as Denver Quarterly, Fence and North American Review, and his articles have been published by The Huffington Post and The Poetry Foundation. He is a two-time National Haiku Champion and in 2010 he was voted “Boston’s Best Poet” in the Boston Phoenix. He is practicing the perfection of effort through right action and joyful participation in the sorrows of the world.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 15, 2020
This collection of poetry is infused with spiritual intention, and it's easily one of the best poetry books I've read during quarantine. I've read and re-read it several times, following my first Writing and Ritual workshop with Janaka Stucky and Pam Grossman.
This is a tremendous collection for poets, those concerned with matters of the spirit and soul, and where those two identities converge.
If you appreciate the work of David Lynch, it is more likely that you will appreciate this collection, because these poems are in pursuit of "bigger fish" down past the surface of what you can see. I think that readers who are curious about, or practitioners of magic, the occult, meditation (particularly transcendental meditation) are the audience who will be best suited to these poems.
There is a link on the interior page to hear Janaka read the work; I cannot recommend this highly enough because the reading of the work makes it dance off the page and into life. Likewise, I recommend spending time with the poem "This Is the Hour When You Learn to Love Without" for meditation. The poem is deceptively simple, and repeating its lines deepens the meaning.
The poems in this collection explore both the sacred and the profane, and finds beauty and meaning in both. There is some dark material to be found here, but there is an equal amount of lush, sensual language that balances. Much like the world it exists within and the people who inhabit it: there is savagery, desolation, beauty, and enlightenment.
These poems don't hand things to you on a silver platter. They make you work for meaning. For some readers, this will make the book more rewarding. Not every reader will embrace this, though, because it requires you to be an active participant in your experience. I recommend you know which kind of reader you are BEFORE investing in the book.
In this way, I found this collection of poetry functioned much like a mirror, reflecting back my own soul. If I didn't like what I saw, I was afforded the opportunity to dive deeper, and change it. Many people cannot sit with poetry that looks despair in the face and asks you to realize that despair, like joy, is part of our own humanity and though painful, it is a necessary part of growth.
I think that this collection of poetry is not going to be for everyone-- and that is okay, too. Some readers are not ready to see what it reflects back. Some are.
If you're looking for poems that change with each reading because you yourself have changed each time you pick up the book, this collection is probably for you.
This book came into my life exactly when I needed it, and for that, I am grateful.
The truth is -- whether or not we are ready to embrace our shadow as well as our light --we ARE perfect.
This is a tremendous collection for poets, those concerned with matters of the spirit and soul, and where those two identities converge.
If you appreciate the work of David Lynch, it is more likely that you will appreciate this collection, because these poems are in pursuit of "bigger fish" down past the surface of what you can see. I think that readers who are curious about, or practitioners of magic, the occult, meditation (particularly transcendental meditation) are the audience who will be best suited to these poems.
There is a link on the interior page to hear Janaka read the work; I cannot recommend this highly enough because the reading of the work makes it dance off the page and into life. Likewise, I recommend spending time with the poem "This Is the Hour When You Learn to Love Without" for meditation. The poem is deceptively simple, and repeating its lines deepens the meaning.
The poems in this collection explore both the sacred and the profane, and finds beauty and meaning in both. There is some dark material to be found here, but there is an equal amount of lush, sensual language that balances. Much like the world it exists within and the people who inhabit it: there is savagery, desolation, beauty, and enlightenment.
These poems don't hand things to you on a silver platter. They make you work for meaning. For some readers, this will make the book more rewarding. Not every reader will embrace this, though, because it requires you to be an active participant in your experience. I recommend you know which kind of reader you are BEFORE investing in the book.
In this way, I found this collection of poetry functioned much like a mirror, reflecting back my own soul. If I didn't like what I saw, I was afforded the opportunity to dive deeper, and change it. Many people cannot sit with poetry that looks despair in the face and asks you to realize that despair, like joy, is part of our own humanity and though painful, it is a necessary part of growth.
I think that this collection of poetry is not going to be for everyone-- and that is okay, too. Some readers are not ready to see what it reflects back. Some are.
If you're looking for poems that change with each reading because you yourself have changed each time you pick up the book, this collection is probably for you.
This book came into my life exactly when I needed it, and for that, I am grateful.
The truth is -- whether or not we are ready to embrace our shadow as well as our light --we ARE perfect.
June 30, 2016
I'd already read about half of these, but the second half, though a bit repetitive, was still quite something.
May 13, 2019
Wow. Just wow. I was not expecting this book to have such a profound affect on me. I cried reading many of these. Some of the best poems I’ve read in quite awhile.
October 1, 2020
In chronicling the aftermath of passion, the Truth Is We Are Perfect decants cosmic eroticism. And yet, for all its galactic theatrics, each poem dissolves like foam on a wave. And so heartache—that endless agony—fades.
No subtleties here: This is a book for the hot-blooded. Read it when you want to remember an old flame.
No subtleties here: This is a book for the hot-blooded. Read it when you want to remember an old flame.
August 26, 2015
I won this book in a Goodreads contest and waited for months to receive it...but the "prize" never actually arrived in my mailbox. So I made the mistake of paying hard-earned money for it because the author's work is reviewed highly on Goodreads, and I was curious and excited to experience his poetry. Ugh. I should have left it alone.
Perhaps I just don't have a heart and soul for darker poetry....but I do not concur with other reviewers' high ratings. This little black book left me thoroughly exhausted by my efforts to understand it; I was alternately horrified and confused by the images it conjured in my mind. This small collection of poetry is despair and heartbreak at its extreme. I think perhaps the author would benefit from some mental health therapy. And that's all I have to say about it.
Perhaps I just don't have a heart and soul for darker poetry....but I do not concur with other reviewers' high ratings. This little black book left me thoroughly exhausted by my efforts to understand it; I was alternately horrified and confused by the images it conjured in my mind. This small collection of poetry is despair and heartbreak at its extreme. I think perhaps the author would benefit from some mental health therapy. And that's all I have to say about it.
August 1, 2015
Like someone afflicted with graphorrhea took hold of ee cummings's broken type writer and made a bunch of tumblr posts.
ugh. the bookmark it came with is ok. use it to mark your place in a better book.
ugh. the bookmark it came with is ok. use it to mark your place in a better book.
September 29, 2015
Powerful; the images and emotions that the author evokes through mere words, move my soul.
July 15, 2015
I read this over and over and over. Love this book.
December 22, 2015
i don't normally fucks with poetry but this was dope
December 21, 2022
The truth is that this collection of poems is like the finest single malt: to be sip, enjoy, savour and re-tried. This book deserves multiple readings.
May 4, 2015
I felt my insides engage a ritual of life and death as a dance.
December 29, 2015
Do you follow Guy in Your MFA on Twitter? If so there is no need to read this book.
April 12, 2017
It started very strong but I eventually felt let down.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews