Resistance, Rebellion, Life: 50 Poems Now

by Amit Majmudar (Editor)

Poets on the 50 crucial poems written in response to the current political climate, selected and introduced by the Ohio Poet Laureate—and son of immigrants—Amit Majmudar. In a political atmosphere where language and even meaning itself are continually under threat, poetry has a critical role to play. And our poets have been responding—in the streets and at their desks, demanding a full accounting from themselves and from their nation. Majmudar's elegant introduction to these vital poems reminds us that "false stories take a lot of killing because they are made of language. Because they are made of language, though, they can be killed." From Solmaz Sharif and Eileen Myles to Kevin Young and Juan Felipe Herrera, American poets of diverse styles and strategies have contributed their scenes from the front lines of resistance, and from the interior of our collective conscience. A final cento by Majmudar—a poem including at least one line or phrase from each of the poems in the volume—celebrates the robust multiplicity of voices in this book and in America now.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Politics

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 23, 2017

About the author

Amit Majmudar is the author of The Abundance, Partitions, chosen by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best debut novels of 2011 and by Booklist as one of the year’s ten best works of historical fiction. His poetry has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Best American Poetry 2011. A radiologist, he lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Reviews

[Kurt Kemmerer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, there are a few good poems in this collection, particularly Pinsky's addition, and I agree with almost all of the poems included, at least philosophically. But there are too many bad poems, and too few female poets, and I just had to add another bad poem in response:

Unsolicited Advice

A poem about the current political
situation
should not utilize the words
situation and
utilize.
(No one is exempt, here.)

Nowhere in such a poem
should one find the colors
orange and bronze.
Nor should the poem claim
its author's vote
Never Counts.

Please, no poems about
big hats and high noon.
And for the sake of all verse,
no such poem should examine
the evils
of bottled water.

"Alt-right" is not a poetic direction.
"Blowhard" is for blowhards.
Robert Pinsky knows.
You have not wasted your life,
just my time
spent reading your poem,
oh, and James Wright's poems
were good.

I apologize.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology, edited by one of my favorite poets, is a powerful response to the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency as well as a virtual catalogue of important modern American poets. It's also a great answer to those who think political poetry can't be top-notch.

[Leigh Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pocket full of moxie for your favorite lefty.

When the going gets tough, the poets write poetry. I mean, they write poetry all the time, but when the world is a complete and utter trash fire, poetry tends to kick it up a notch. This collection, which is literally small enough to tuck into your jacket, contains 50 poems curated by the poet laureate of Ohio, who has chosen verses to get you fired up, sustain you in dark hours, and reassure you that, no, you are NOT crazy, the world really IS a complete and utter trash fire.

There are tons of familiar names here, including -- but not limited to -- Jericho Brown, Ada Limon, Kay Ryan, Eileen Miles, Sharon Olds, and Kevin Young. It's a good cross-section of inclusive authors, and Majmudar caps it off at the very end with a poem composed entirely of lines used in all the other poems in the volume. A nifty trick, but more than that, because there are some kickass lines in this collection.

If you love poetry and hate the current political landscape, this book is for you. If you're not all that into poetry, this could be the collection that gets you started. Recommended for all poetry collections.

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amit Majmudar was one of a handful of poets whose work was selected by The New York Times during their contest for political poetry, in the wake of the election of the 45th President of the United States. This prompted a conversation with Majmudar's publisher, in which the idea for an anthology for political poetry was decided upon. Enter RESISTANCE, REBELLION LIFE: 50 POEMS NOW. This collection of political poems, each penned by a different author, takes on all kinds of themes. There's outrage, shock, and disbelief about the results of the election, for sure, but the targeting of minorities, fear about the negative social/political/environmental changes, imaginings of what everyday experiences may be like, and seeking connection in a country where it seems that rifts and divides are insurmountable. My favorite poem is by Kay Ryan, called "The Elephant in the Room" -

The room is
almost all
elephant.
Almost none
of it isn't.
Pretty much solid elephant.
So there's no room to talk
about it.

[Jeimy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very polarized collection. I either loved a poem or I hated it, but there was no in between.

[Ami Majmudar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wide range of poets speak to the current situation, while addressing universal themes of belonging, truth, and resistance.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few good poems for these dark times.

[Mauricio Maluff Masi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to give a single review for the whole anthology. I generally enjoyed the ones that focused in on one perspective of injustice ("Interview with a Border Machine," "They Call Them Blue My Mind," "We've come a long way toward getting nowhere.") They felt true, complicated, I came out understanding something better. I sympathized with some the poems of Trump-induced grief and resistance ("Let Them Not Say," "Good Bones.") They were comforting. But I really couldn't stand the ones about how "I can't believe these rubes elected Trump and ruined my beautiful America" (especially "Now," but there was a current of this across many poems).

Stylistically there was also a wide range, but the whole leaned on too on-the-nose to be poetic.

[Antonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admire the concept and passion. And my hat's off to Amit Majmudar. I heard him speaking about this book on a podcast and had to buy it immediately. There are a few standout poems here. But not enough. The collection includes quite a few really long poems. I get bogged down in them, lose my way. (This is probably more my failing than that of the poets.) They don't seem to me to have as much power as some of the shorter ones. My dave was "Killing Methods" by Ada Limón, which concludes:

I don't know how to hold this truth,
so I kill it, pin its terrible wings down
in case, later, no one believes me.

[Maria Reagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very bleak and all over the place

Wanted to like this. Did not. Lots of over the top, graphic outrage, to no worthy or really discernable end.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often read poetry cover to cover, but this little book got the full treatment. The editor submitted a work to Nick Kristoff of the NY Times as part of a call for resistance poetry. His work was chosen for the Times, and then his editor at Knopf asked him to put an anthology together.

The title is a play on Camus' "Resistance, Rebellion, and Death: Essays," and follows in the vein of his Nobel speech in which he said the writer, "cannot serve today those who make history; he must serve those who are subject to it."

Political poetry is problematic in that it so often falls to polemic, or the remembrance of a particular rather than the universal. All the poems in this chapbook are good - from well known to lesser known poets - a few are spectacular. The volume sold out at my bookstore in record time.

Worth your time, check it out.

[Joanne Rixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two years into the latest iteration of American fascism, I'm weary and wary of the #resistance; if I never again hear a Baby Boomer rhapsodize about the lost glory of American Democracy's Golden Age it will be too soon. But most of the poems in this book aren't hashtaggy. Poetry, I think, is naturally resistant to hashtag culture.

In any case, there are many poets featured in this book that I know and love and would like to recommend to you. Many of the poems are reprints, by poetry-world-famous poets, and this book is handy for finding a broad selection of poets you should be reading now, if you aren't already. Some of my favorite poets that feature here include Solmaz Sharif, Jericho Brown, Ilya Kaminsky, Ada Limon, Bob Hicok, and Lucie Brock-Broido. Check 'em out.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I liked the idea of this anthology, and I liked a lot of the individual poems, but there were also a lot of really bad ones (very on-the-nose).

Highlights for me were the poems by Erica Dawson, Alex Dimitrov, Kay Ryan, Ada Limón, Solmaz Sharif, Rebecca Hazelton, Ilya Kaminsky, Maggie Smith, and Lucie Brock-Broido. Some of them I had actually already read in other publications, but I enjoyed them again in this context.

I personally think poetry is a great tool for coping in these troubling times. Everyone should read more of it. Especially Ada Limón.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stats.

I had a little trouble with it cause poetry can be hard for me. But some of the poems we're absolute breathtaking. The compiler/editor wrote a poem to conclude the collection that was written (except for the very last line) from phrases and lines of the preceding 49 poems.

It is amazing how all these disparate poems, points of views, poets, ideas, etc could come together to form the final piece of art.

I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and read something a little more difficult for me - both in format and content. It was worth it.

[Jeff Lewonczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I was excited to see some "real-time" poetry written in direct response to recent events. And the answer is kind of what was to be expected - some forgettable hot takes mixed with some clever/fascinating/thoughtful/moving pieces, but not really anything that made me think or feel any differently than I already had. A decent dry run for the classics of a year or two from now.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this short collection. It's titled "50 Poems Now", and while some of these are very much of the Trump era, naming him and mourning the loss of hope for a better America that his election heralded, many are timeless, speaking to the broader sorrow that comes with living in the core of Empire, under capitalism, imperialism, and white supremacy.

I don't think I'll ever stop thinking about Ilya Kaminsky's "We Lived Happily During The War".

[Ellice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any poetry anthology is a crap shoot, and this is particularly true for an anthology that arranges itself around “political” poetry. Political poetry can be terrible, and some of the poems here definitely fall into that category for me. But there are also much more uplifting works with messages of varying degrees of subtlety. This is a good read for those who enjoy poetry and are left-leaning in their own personal politics.

[ems · Rating 5 out of 5]

given the theme (post-trump america) i expected many of the poems would be polemic, would sacrifice style. i was impressed by the opposite. (funny: the editor notes in the intro that no poets even submitted work that could be construed as conservative or pro-trump, even though they called for work from any political pov ... the poets of america have spoken.)

[Kirsten D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a wonderful anthology. I didn’t love all the poems, but I really loved the poems “Riddle,” “Social Skills Training,” “We Lived Happily During the War,” “The American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act,” and (of course) “Good Bones.” The introduction on truth was thought-provoking. Overall, this was great.

[jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great thematic anthology with a few stand-out pieces, though realized how I largely prefer reading one poet's work as part of a single volume rather than multiple in one because stylistically I am outlandishly picky and annoying

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this because I knew it had poems I already liked in it and I am trying to buy books of poetry more often and support poems/poets I know I like. I enjoyed several of the new-to-me poems in this book and many more of them made me think.

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was very little flow between these 50 poems. They read in a disjointed way, and I found myself wandering rather than paying attention. Poetry is hard for me, but I keep trying to find the one that will take hold.

[Wren]

There are some solid poems in this collection, and... well some very mediocre ones to be frank. Overall, I thought it was ok-alright - I can’t say I disliked it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to someone.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems written after the presidential election in 2016 snap, crackle and pop. Wow. They burst off of these little pages. They are lightning bolts in the sky that light up the current circumstance even if but for an instance. I love these poets and these poem.

[Jason Crane · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some lovely poems in here, but maybe protest poems just aren't my thing. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that there's a certain kind of liberal protest poetry that rings fairly hollow to me. And I say that not as a conservative, but as someone much further to the left.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not all of the poems are brilliant, but all of them are necessary. Some are incandescent.

[Leila Jaafari · Rating 4 out of 5]

50 poems on the current political climate of the United States of America. This is the rebel cry of (as the racist yam so eloquently described it...) the "alt left".

[Beckyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept this small volume in my backpack and read poetry while waiting for the bus home from work. Enjoyed it very much.

[Hailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like some of these poems

[Tom Romig · Rating 4 out of 5]

No odes to despair here, rather many bracing, clear-eyed yet optimistic poems calling us to our better natures.