DiVida

by Monica Hand

Published posthumously, this powerful second collection is a raw dialogue about being black in today's society, exploring injustices survived by using a dream-like consciousness to take on multiple personas: DiVida, who wants to assimilate into the larger culture, and Sapphire, who refuses to follow at the expense of her self-actualization.

Genres: Poetry

100 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2018

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this collection, the language was beautiful and the lines quirky. The themes Monica touched on made me pause to think and encouraged me to write!

My favorite moments include:

“Not suitable/for animals. Are we something other than animal?” from “As yellow and sun shiny as a flip-top box of Rescue chewing gum”

“Don’t get stuck in a 52-card deck/or fry your main parts at both ends/Walk the daylight with a lamp/Wormhole your way through the universe/Squid ink anything that gets in your way” from “DiVida reads Brain Man’s tarot at the Shady Oaks Trailer Park in Mosquito City”

[Jen Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a sad thing that this poet is no longer with us, but her vision leaves behind a resounding boom. These poems are beautiful and funny and brazen and strange. I especially enjoyed their strangeness.

[amirahlynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I genuinely have no clue what any of these poems were trying to say

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of this went completely over my head, but overall I enjoyed it.