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Wrong Side of a Fistfight
"Ashe Vernon pulls back the layers of the spectacular wound of being human and underneath, there are bruises. Vernon flinches at the truth but forges ahead and there, they find their strength- in the honesty and in the brutality. Vernon has written a collection that prays of misplaced love and preacher fathers and the shade of Texas summers and a body that never feels quite like your own. It is beautiful and astounding and it hurts. Come here for the youth, for the apologies, for the optimism, and for the astounding love." - Fortesa Latifi, author of We Were Young and No Matter the Time
80 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 14, 2016
I've now read (one, two) three poetry collections from poets who originally posted their writing on tumblr. I'm probably never doing it again. I'm generalizing right now, but these three collections have many of the same flaws. And they seem to be written for an "internet culture" if I may call it that. A culture where poetry is posted so it can be quickly read and reblogged or otherwise shared, it's made to resonate with as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, which means the quality suffers. They're poems made for quick, easy, shallow consumption.
I'd love to read a good poetry collection from a tumblr/blogger poet. If you ever find one, let me know.
I expected more from this than I did 'Home' because I recall liking Ashe Vernons poetry whenever I came across it online. Turns out I've either been lucky with the poems I've read (or I've been the kind of reader I described above, someone who quickly read it, thought it sounded okay and never thought about it again) or it's that I can enjoy her poems when I read them on their own, but as soon as they show up next to each other it becomes apparent they don't quite work.
Mostly what's lacking is clarity or unity in imagery. I'm not saying to use only one image in a given poem, but do not, as Vernon does, stack them on top of each other endlessly. Each line seems to present a new form of abstract imagery until I couldn't picture it in my head at all. I had to give up understanding what was going on in nearly every poem because they were too much. Sometimes the images made sense, more often they didn't.
Every sentence seemed to be written with the thought that it could be taken out of context and exist as a poem on its own. There seemed to be a focus on making every line memorable and hard-hitting, which meant no lines ended up being either of those things. I simply had no idea what the hell was going on in each poem, I had no idea what they were trying to get at or even what emotion or experience they were trying to convey. My number one feeling in reading this collection was confusion, the second was frustration. In fact I got so exhausted trying to understand anything that I just skimmed the last third of the book.
I struggle to recall a single poem that stood out to me, that I remember. I can think of only one, and even that I don't remember in full, but it's her father, and it very nearly works. It has lines like this:
"We found you cold, Dad.
You were one room over - ten feet away,
Dead while I was sleeping,"
That's an extremely specific image, there's nothing flowery about it, and that's what makes it work. I see it very clearly in my head, and I'm heartbroken by it.
The rest of the poem is ruined somewhat by lines like this,
"EMTs stormed the house
Like a disaster response team -
Covered the place, like cleanup from a hurricane -
Nobody told them you took the hurricane with you when you stopped breathing."
Which I think would have worked beautifully if Vernon had stuck to the tangible and not gone into hurricane metaphors and imagery, because it takes from the immediacy, it removes it from what I can picture in my head - and the real, physical image of a house covered in EMTs is enough. It hits hard as it is.
I remember little from this book. All the poems bled together in a torrent of images upon images that constantly replaced each other and never really made an impact. I wish for clarity, more tangible images, even if they may seem boring or ordinary, because they help the hard-hitting, abstract images stand out and fully impact the reader. Otherwise you end up, like here, with a book of pretty sentences, that sometimes make sense, but get tiring after a very short while, because they don't add to a full picture.
Less is more, in this case.
I'd love to read a good poetry collection from a tumblr/blogger poet. If you ever find one, let me know.
I expected more from this than I did 'Home' because I recall liking Ashe Vernons poetry whenever I came across it online. Turns out I've either been lucky with the poems I've read (or I've been the kind of reader I described above, someone who quickly read it, thought it sounded okay and never thought about it again) or it's that I can enjoy her poems when I read them on their own, but as soon as they show up next to each other it becomes apparent they don't quite work.
Mostly what's lacking is clarity or unity in imagery. I'm not saying to use only one image in a given poem, but do not, as Vernon does, stack them on top of each other endlessly. Each line seems to present a new form of abstract imagery until I couldn't picture it in my head at all. I had to give up understanding what was going on in nearly every poem because they were too much. Sometimes the images made sense, more often they didn't.
Every sentence seemed to be written with the thought that it could be taken out of context and exist as a poem on its own. There seemed to be a focus on making every line memorable and hard-hitting, which meant no lines ended up being either of those things. I simply had no idea what the hell was going on in each poem, I had no idea what they were trying to get at or even what emotion or experience they were trying to convey. My number one feeling in reading this collection was confusion, the second was frustration. In fact I got so exhausted trying to understand anything that I just skimmed the last third of the book.
I struggle to recall a single poem that stood out to me, that I remember. I can think of only one, and even that I don't remember in full, but it's her father, and it very nearly works. It has lines like this:
"We found you cold, Dad.
You were one room over - ten feet away,
Dead while I was sleeping,"
That's an extremely specific image, there's nothing flowery about it, and that's what makes it work. I see it very clearly in my head, and I'm heartbroken by it.
The rest of the poem is ruined somewhat by lines like this,
"EMTs stormed the house
Like a disaster response team -
Covered the place, like cleanup from a hurricane -
Nobody told them you took the hurricane with you when you stopped breathing."
Which I think would have worked beautifully if Vernon had stuck to the tangible and not gone into hurricane metaphors and imagery, because it takes from the immediacy, it removes it from what I can picture in my head - and the real, physical image of a house covered in EMTs is enough. It hits hard as it is.
I remember little from this book. All the poems bled together in a torrent of images upon images that constantly replaced each other and never really made an impact. I wish for clarity, more tangible images, even if they may seem boring or ordinary, because they help the hard-hitting, abstract images stand out and fully impact the reader. Otherwise you end up, like here, with a book of pretty sentences, that sometimes make sense, but get tiring after a very short while, because they don't add to a full picture.
Less is more, in this case.
September 22, 2015
I would equate reading this book with drinking a hot cup of tea when you really need it, or putting on dark purple lipstick while your lips are perfectly moisturized, or turning your face toward the sun on the first warm day after winter. So powerful, so moving, and probably one of my favorite books ever.
December 12, 2015
Saw a few quotes of her's go by on Tumblr and it was enough to get me to buy one of her books. No regrets.
February 13, 2017
A good collection of poetry. Highlights include: “Survivor’s Guilt”, “I Didn’t Speak At The Funeral”, “Post-Panic Attack”, “Redefining the Classics”, and “Survival”.
June 11, 2017
Overall I wasn't hooked, emotionally. A lot of metaphors, too thick for my tastes. There’s a balance between describing with metaphors and the art of storytelling.
I came to this author cold. So I had no expectations. I'm not sure I'd buy another book. Out of 24 poems I read (up to page 49), I only liked 3 of them.
I came to this author cold. So I had no expectations. I'm not sure I'd buy another book. Out of 24 poems I read (up to page 49), I only liked 3 of them.
December 9, 2017
A little bit repetitive but I liked the clear punch of her poems.
June 3, 2019
A handful of lovely lines, but overall this fell a little flat
February 28, 2022
Left me breathless.
May 12, 2023
I purchased this collection after bingeing Ashe Vernon's social media poem snippets.
It's got the same punch, but I actually enjoyed the social-media-format versions of the poems better! The poetry is still great—fast, brutal, and vibrant. As I've gotten into my twenties, I find I connect a lot less with the poems than I originally did. However, I'd still recommend Ashe Vernon's poetry to teenagers.
It's got the same punch, but I actually enjoyed the social-media-format versions of the poems better! The poetry is still great—fast, brutal, and vibrant. As I've gotten into my twenties, I find I connect a lot less with the poems than I originally did. However, I'd still recommend Ashe Vernon's poetry to teenagers.
August 7, 2015
The 2nd book by this poet shows more growth and maturity without losing any of the bravery and fierceness of her 1st book. These poems are for anyone who ever felt on the outside, this is the voice thst keeps telling you that you matter and you can and will make it. A passionate and visceral shout of affirmation. Do not miss it! You will find yourself returning to it often.
July 31, 2015
(2.5) this book isn't really separated in parts but if we pretend it is then I didn't enjoy the first part of it as much as the last. Somewhere in the middle I felt like they poems got better. Either that or I just started to related more to what she had to say.
September 12, 2015
Beautiful and visceral
November 20, 2015
I was moved beyond words by this collection of poetry, and nothing I say will do this justice.
Read
February 6, 2016811.6 V539w 2015
July 3, 2018
This poetry collection won't be for everyone. It feels rough, as in rushed or unpolished. Maybe that's just the raw form, the purposeful style. The poems seem more quotable in pieces out of context than as finished works. But you can feel the love in it. This doesn't have to be a masterpiece for me to look forward to the second edition (with new/edited poems I hear!). Not to disparage tumblr but these feel more rebloggable than literary.
Review also on Litsy, pssst join me.
Review also on Litsy, pssst join me.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews