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Miracle Fruit
Poetry. As three worlds collide, a mother's Philippines, a father's India and the poet's contemporary America, the resulting impressions are chronicled in this collection of incisive and penetrating verse. The writer weaves her words carefully into a wise and affecting embroidery that celebrates the senses while remaining down-to-earth and genuine. "We see that everything is in fact miracle fruit, including this book itself"-Andrew Hudgins.
86 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
8 people are currently reading
703 people want to read
About the author
Aimee Nezhukumatathil
26 books985 followersauthor of WORLD OF WONDERS: IN PRAISE OF FIREFLIES, WHALE SHARKS, AND OTHER ASTONISHMENTS (Milkweed 2020), and four collections of poetry, most recently, OCEANIC (Copper Canyon, 2018). Professor of English and Glitter, University of Mississippi.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 3, 2021
In Miracle Fruit, Aimee Nezhukumatathil does a wonderful job exploring relationships, whether it is the relationships the speaker has with their family, lover, animals, or food. I am particularly struck by the vividness of the descriptions. Nezhukumatathil can find the just the right words to leave the reader seeing or often tasting and smelling the objects that populate her poems.
December 28, 2023
coloring, fragrance, heat. reading this felt like a butterfly flapping its wings on my heart, stronger each time.
November 1, 2011
i like the voice and i especially like the concreteness of place and event in these poems. most of them felt too short, somehow incomplete, like they weren't finished telling me what they needed to say and then the page was turned and it was just over. i'd really give this book 3.5 stars, but i'll bump it up to 4 because i'm really intrigued to read another book of hers. she makes zipping through space and culture a thing of disconcerting ease.
November 24, 2011
It was hard for me to give this whole book an overall rating. I found some of the poems to be a little strange, but others were incredibly intelligent and revealing in terms of their wordplay and allusions. I originally picked up the book because of the poem "Cheese Curds, the First Time" but there are plenty of other selections in Miracle Fruit that have the same unique and insightful tone to them.
August 30, 2008
Absolutely fantastic collection. I loved nearly every piece.
A plain sort of language that often becomes something otherworldly in its insistent beauty.
And when a poet has a quote from Written On The Body in their book, I have to pay attention.
A plain sort of language that often becomes something otherworldly in its insistent beauty.
And when a poet has a quote from Written On The Body in their book, I have to pay attention.
September 17, 2009
The poem about fruit picking is one of the best I've ever read. The set-up of the book is good but sometimes feels too forced. Overall, some parts I could take, others I left. I think that was her first collection, though, and it's very strong considering that.
August 13, 2014
Vivid and poignant. I'm not much of a poetry reader, but this was recommended to me. It's amazing to see what a poet can do in such a concise and deliberate way. These poems are pure story telling about relationships, home and identity.
April 20, 2008
delicate, sensual tasty poems. strongest in the third section, which is definitely the most mature. i enjoyed her moments of strange lyricism more than her narratives or more prosaic tendencies.
July 31, 2013
Beautiful, visceral, rich. one of the best things I've read this year. Picked it up because of Billy Collins including it in a collection.
June 9, 2020
After reading reviews of this collection, I'm compelled by their excitement to be more positive despite my own experience with the book being middling. The central ambiguity circles around the resilience of perception through encounters with nature, both perception through time and perception as a quality; the "miracle fruit" of the title "changes the tongue" such that whatever you eat after becomes sweet, and the poet wonders "how long before you lose such sweetness?" One can point to "Making Gyotaku" - Gyotaku being a Japanese printing method intended to preserve the exact shape of a fish - to see how this is taken to its most literal levels.
Naturally, then, Nezhukumatathil's poems are as flooded with description as one imagines the Nile's banks are with silt after it overflows. It's equally lush, equally bright, though not without grief. "Meditation on Flannel" stands out because of its singular focus, turning the typically disembodied idea of meditation into a deeply physical and linguistic consideration of the word and its referent:
I love the sound.
Push the l
with your tongue
to the back of your teeth.
As if meditation is not the mind distancing itself from the body, but the body closing in on itself. To maximize oneself is the greatest pleasure (even ones own name, as emphasized by the final poem titled "My Name."
And there's the reversal in "Hell Pig" where the poet is "warned of the Hell Pig which terrifies her despite her knowing "it's not like the pig//has any special powers or could take a tiny bit/from my leg." The Hell Pig is not a physical presence except as language, as reference, yet the impact of that is deeply physical: "It was simply/scandal to be followed home." One thinks of blood to the cheeks, sweat, the tic of nervous eyes. The etymologists, those wise-asses, might point to how the Ancient Greek source was a literal trap for animals. There's a visceral entanglement of language with our experiences that is reproduced through Miracle Fruit from which the questions can be asked - how long does that language's glow hold? Is there a time when the l of flannel fail to connect to itself?
I can understand the love for this collection, all this is to say. It savors itself and is savory. Despite being written with controlled casualness (the italics are very much conversational and emphatic) it doesn't rush past nor dodge the complexity of langour, even concluding with several poems about conflicting seizures of freedom from exes. Perhaps that's why I'm not really invested in the collection? A poem like "Lewis and Clark Disagree" hits like a bad joke, and a poem like "The Original William" flits by barely remembered, another poem about the transitoriness of language, inheritance, and person. I'd say that this is a collection that I appreciate the appreciation of more than the collection itself. That might speak to my own ignorance, admittedly. Hence the 3.
Naturally, then, Nezhukumatathil's poems are as flooded with description as one imagines the Nile's banks are with silt after it overflows. It's equally lush, equally bright, though not without grief. "Meditation on Flannel" stands out because of its singular focus, turning the typically disembodied idea of meditation into a deeply physical and linguistic consideration of the word and its referent:
I love the sound.
Push the l
with your tongue
to the back of your teeth.
As if meditation is not the mind distancing itself from the body, but the body closing in on itself. To maximize oneself is the greatest pleasure (even ones own name, as emphasized by the final poem titled "My Name."
And there's the reversal in "Hell Pig" where the poet is "warned of the Hell Pig which terrifies her despite her knowing "it's not like the pig//has any special powers or could take a tiny bit/from my leg." The Hell Pig is not a physical presence except as language, as reference, yet the impact of that is deeply physical: "It was simply/scandal to be followed home." One thinks of blood to the cheeks, sweat, the tic of nervous eyes. The etymologists, those wise-asses, might point to how the Ancient Greek source was a literal trap for animals. There's a visceral entanglement of language with our experiences that is reproduced through Miracle Fruit from which the questions can be asked - how long does that language's glow hold? Is there a time when the l of flannel fail to connect to itself?
I can understand the love for this collection, all this is to say. It savors itself and is savory. Despite being written with controlled casualness (the italics are very much conversational and emphatic) it doesn't rush past nor dodge the complexity of langour, even concluding with several poems about conflicting seizures of freedom from exes. Perhaps that's why I'm not really invested in the collection? A poem like "Lewis and Clark Disagree" hits like a bad joke, and a poem like "The Original William" flits by barely remembered, another poem about the transitoriness of language, inheritance, and person. I'd say that this is a collection that I appreciate the appreciation of more than the collection itself. That might speak to my own ignorance, admittedly. Hence the 3.
September 11, 2021
“…How I love
the grab and pull for something you can’t name, only
knowing you want more.” (29)
What a sensual and truly tangy collection of poetry! I could feel the hunger growing with each poem, every line more tantalizing than the last. I could taste these poems. Their sweetness, their bitterness, and the sour in-between. This is a collection you can suck on and savor, drain the sweetness from and beg for the rest.
Definitely recommend this collection! Life, love, family, and their messy (but cherished) intersections are at the heart of this poetry. It truly makes for a bittersweet collection~
the grab and pull for something you can’t name, only
knowing you want more.” (29)
What a sensual and truly tangy collection of poetry! I could feel the hunger growing with each poem, every line more tantalizing than the last. I could taste these poems. Their sweetness, their bitterness, and the sour in-between. This is a collection you can suck on and savor, drain the sweetness from and beg for the rest.
Definitely recommend this collection! Life, love, family, and their messy (but cherished) intersections are at the heart of this poetry. It truly makes for a bittersweet collection~
February 20, 2019
Beautiful poetry and imagery. This is the third collection of Nezhukumatahill's I've read in the last month, and probably my favorite. My only criticism is that she uses the word "tiny" too often. I once participated in a workshop with Tony Hoagland (who I just learned died in the fall, RIP), and he made a big deal about my use of "tiny" in a poem and how the word doesn't add anything. Not that his opinion is the end-all, be-all but he had a good point and it's something I've been aware of since. There were just too many "tinys" in all three collections.
April 7, 2021
Sixty poems in 73 pages, all gems, each in their own right. Nature, love, foods, flowers, creatures, scents and experiences in the Philippines, India, and the US, envelope you and sweep you up in a magical world, though not always a world filled with joy. The poems bring delight and surprises, and a desire to savor them slowly like cool sorbet on a hot day.
May 30, 2018
Aimee Nezhukumatathil's poems demand the reader pay attention with their culture clash content, their surprising and delightful language, and their deft craft. Engaging on numerous levels, many of these are poems I want to return to again.
April 26, 2023
3.5 stars - I enjoyed In Praise of Colophons, Fruit Cocktail Tree, Lewis and Clark Disagree, and Little Houses. I hated The Purchase but thought about it for days.
Flesh was my least favorite section. I enjoy her poems relating to nature more than human desire.
Flesh was my least favorite section. I enjoy her poems relating to nature more than human desire.
August 23, 2019
My favorites:
Spices
Origin of the Milky Way
Motorcycle
The Woman Who Turned Down a Date with a Cherry Farmer
What I Learned from The Incredible Hulk
Spices
Origin of the Milky Way
Motorcycle
The Woman Who Turned Down a Date with a Cherry Farmer
What I Learned from The Incredible Hulk
August 20, 2020
I just like her poems. This is her first volume. She likes little twists at the end, but sometimes they felt sort of random.
August 22, 2021
Aimee Nezhukumatahil finds and shares the magic in seemingly ordinary words, objects, and experiences. Her poetry is a gift.
August 14, 2023
11/31
I first book published 20 years ago. It’s lovely to look back on it and read it now, knowing where she will be by 2023.
I first book published 20 years ago. It’s lovely to look back on it and read it now, knowing where she will be by 2023.
August 18, 2025
Day 16 of sealey challenge. Engrossing, smart collection. Loved all the little tidbits sprinkled throughout.
March 10, 2010
This collection kept holding out promise and its subjects were well-chosen, but in the end the poems lacked musicality and seemed to try just a bit too hard. Still, it's got some magical draw I can't put my finger on.
A bit:
At four, I was ready: fat pencil and paper, lined
the way I like it best -- two strong sky blue lines
with a dotted line in between the two, a soft ceiling
for the tops of lower case letters to brush up against.
A bit:
At four, I was ready: fat pencil and paper, lined
the way I like it best -- two strong sky blue lines
with a dotted line in between the two, a soft ceiling
for the tops of lower case letters to brush up against.
March 17, 2007
sweet and sour bites of life...
some nice morsels, others don't go down as well.
nonetheless, a scintillating read. indulge yourself.
some nice morsels, others don't go down as well.
nonetheless, a scintillating read. indulge yourself.
August 5, 2007
A great book for intro to poetry classes.
October 16, 2007
Fresh, delicious and fun debut with some of the best poems about food I've ever read.
January 14, 2009
Lovely language.
March 1, 2010
Mixed selecton. Some really nice pieces.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews