River Hymns

by Tyree Daye

"Tyree Daye is a poet of extraordinary ability and surprise. I find new music to delight in every time I come back to this book. I encounter new ways to think about family and community, new ways to wrestle with my own landscape and legacy."―Gabrielle Calvocoressi Winner of the 2017 American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Prize, River Hymns invites the reader into the complex lineage of the values, contradictions, and secrets of a southern family. These poems reflect on the rich legacy of a young black man's what to use, what to leave behind, and what haunts. And Tyree Daye can write the blues one moment and conjure great humor the next, as when he says, "I knew God was a man because he put a baby in Mary without her permission." From "Southern Silence": I've only trusted
four white people in my life
my mother showed me
the ropes early I'm afraid
to untie myself get down
from this branch
even the Jesus on the wall of the church old and swaying
has something
up his sun-touched sleeves Tyree Daye is a Cave Canem fellow. His poems have been published in Prairie Schooner, Nashville Review, Four Way Review , and Ploughshares . He was awarded the Amy Clampitt Residency for 2018 and The Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award. He lives in North Carolina.

Genres: Poetry

72 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2017

Reviews

[Anatoly Molotkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I knew God/ was a man// because he put/ a baby in Mary// without her/ permission." - A powerful and important collection that dissects race, love, family - and, indeed, God - in the most imaginative and impactful ways.

[Carl Waluconis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I must learn the language of rain to speak ti plants," Tyree Daye tells us in first book book of poems. His poems move from intimate intensity - "I tell the light of summers it left me quiet holding a wound under a rusted faucet" - to a challenging, unforgettable insight in the next line - "light has never been light". With scenes from his community and family, the poet utilizes the traditions of black poetry while exploring his mother's life and his relationship with her in ways largely left unexplored in nearly all poetry. "Water never forgets it's water", he writes about a flood. The memories he takes us through are ones you will not forget. Many are waiting for his next book.

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this slim volume, one gets the feeling the author is both haunted by place and family and celebratory of these, too. Many of the poems juxtapose the river with human experiences and weave musical cultural references into myriad lines. Sam Cook and Whitney Houston figure prominently. However, the I got drunk on gin trope wore a tad thin by the end of the collection. Still the nod to nature and Whitmanesque echoes are lovely, as are verses honoring Toni Morrison and Rita Dove.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stellar book was a really interesting departure from what I normally read. Often, I read poetry that is full of references to other books and authors. Daye's book is much more self-contained--the poems fit together to form their own referential universe (people are often mentioned repeatedly, across numerous poems). Only by reading it cover to cover will the dimensions of these references reveal themselves (for example, gin's destructive arc is traced through several different poems). Other references, to beliefs or ideas, are put forth without any context and then never mentioned again ("don't let a bird get the hair that falls / out your head, they'll use it to build a nest / and you'll never leave Rolesville" ("Dirt Cakes").

Death constantly walks by the narrator's side, revealing himself through pets and family members: "He had to put our dog down, I still hear / the shot now, / my first instruction on death, / left one big patch of red in a green field. / It died the way everyone will, / one minute you're alive, the next you are / the empty bedroom us kids are afraid to go in" ("And we Tried to Sleep in the Summer"). However, in spite of the ever-present reaper, the tone is defiant: "Every hallelujah in this circle / is endless. / To say hallelujah / is to say we still here, / I won't let the water turn we away" ("Pray to the River Goddess").

Women are also ever present, offering advice, caution, and love. The book is dedicated to the author's mother and wife, and his mother receives some incredible lines: "Mother let light be all of you and nothing of me" ("River Hymns"). His wife doesn't feature largely in River Hymns, but I imagine that she will appear in (Day's hopefully numerous) future collections.

I honestly don't even know what to make of the river to which the title refers. It is another constant image and participant in his world, but I just haven't quite wrapped my head around it. These poems reward repeated readings and extended consideration.

[Brandon Amico · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I dream mostly in floods."

--from "A List of Waters"

And the images in Daye's debut collection do flood. A bounty of them fills these poems as the speaker navigates family history, poverty, love, superstition, and the landscape of small town North Carolina. There are moments in this book that are genuinely breathtaking--often its an image, given (as Gabrielle Calvocoressi says in the books introduction) to us in a perspective no poet has been able to before, making us see what we never could. Sometimes its the deft handling of line, rhythm and syntax that make these poems charge from one obsession to the next, full of passion, longing and life. Whatever it is, it's miraculous, and it all adds up to a stunning debut. Can't wait for more by this poet.

[Cody Stetzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daye's work here is incredible. I think the difficulty with it is so much being explored in such a confined space. I want for more and more of these poems. The second half of this work I found myself dog-earing every page until, becoming conscious of my doings, I decided to save the rest of the edges.

"We live in the house that our mama died in,
We talk with her ghost as though she still has a tongue."

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this collection rich in its sparse language and what isn’t said. The many and varied depictions of water, rivers, mud, rain dredge up memories, smells and nature. And for me, the way he weaves in his relationships is where his original voice comes through. And while there is desperation, trauma and mourning – I also felt hope, simplicity and earthiness that left me wanting to reread the collection and ponder anew. Timely.

[Andy Contreras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daye gives us a window into his life and family traditions while also talking about God and society from time to time. It was really interesting to see how he used actual rivers to explain topics and people. I liked his simple yet creative word choice.

[Amie Whittemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my review here: https://www.usi.edu/sir/reviews/the-m...

[Jacquie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was more of a “it’s me not you” type of read for me. I did love the style and the flow of the poems, but it wasn’t something that was really for me.

[Simon Højberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing collection!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great poetry collection

[Tammi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daye might be the most musical poet alive today. Each poem sings. Loved this collection.

[Patty]

I will be back to post my review of this book.