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waking blood
A series of long poems that offer a wry look at personal politics and passions. Keahey pays particular attention to soul- and body-shaping experiences common in life but marginalized in published literature: female desire, depression, divorce, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
99 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2000
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July 13, 2025
What is a 24yr dude in 2025 reading this book by a woman who must've been in her mid to late 20s, or perhaps even early 30s, in 2000; who speaks of lust, divorce, and pregnancy? Well, that is because when I was a baby or just a year earlier, the author of this lovely book signed and autographed a copy of this book to my mother, Cindy, who was good friends with Deborah ("Debby") Keahey.
Truth be told, my mother read this book a few decades ago, and thought it was absolutely boring. My mum knew Debby, saying that Deb was a professor that published a book of poems, thus going into it, my mum had the expectation that this book would be a "technical" slog, and without realizing how her expectations influenced her reading experience, painful spent days, if not weeks, reading through this book by her dear friend.
I am saying all this because it is unlikely that the author will read this, and that our two families have departed two decades ago.
How did I think of the book? I loved it! I chose to pick this book up as I needed a break from the heavy scientific litterateur that I've had my head stuck into lately. To my horror, on the first two pages of the first poem, she uses the terms "protozoan flagella" and "spermatozoan tails"! *Gasp!* I can't escape it!
Jokes aside, I didn't mind that language, I actually chuckled with endearment! Hehehe. I like to use scientific verbiage, too, with biology being my main passion, thus it was really cool seeing a creative expression of it.
Poetry is not something I dabble in too often. The only other poetry book I've read was Thus Spoke Zarathustra, for fun, while the other poetry works are randos from school, including a few Shakespearian plays like Macbeth and Othello. Plus, I've dabbled in poetry myself both for school but also to express myself in my journals. Thus, I cannot speak too much about the poetic devices used, nor the significance of this book from a historical, feminist, or literary perspective. What I can speak, however, is how this book made me feel and think.
I thought this was a really weird read, man... I haven't lived even half the life she has. My life has mostly been a shut-in due to clinical depression, autism, loneliness, anxiety, trauma, and COVID in the 2010s and 2020s. She was writing this from the perspective of the 1990s and very earliest 2000s. It was a weird disconnect to wrap my head around. TO IMAGINE the sex and hangouts with guys, the drunken nights, leaving voice mails to a house phone, her pain. It was really weird. It felt invasive, girthy, sensual, melancholic, and verbose.
I liked how it tingled my brain, wrapping around threads that connect my gyrus and sulci.
It was awkward. It was kinda funny. It was playful. It was emotional in the lull sense.
Good book! Good collection of poems! :)
Truth be told, my mother read this book a few decades ago, and thought it was absolutely boring. My mum knew Debby, saying that Deb was a professor that published a book of poems, thus going into it, my mum had the expectation that this book would be a "technical" slog, and without realizing how her expectations influenced her reading experience, painful spent days, if not weeks, reading through this book by her dear friend.
I am saying all this because it is unlikely that the author will read this, and that our two families have departed two decades ago.
How did I think of the book? I loved it! I chose to pick this book up as I needed a break from the heavy scientific litterateur that I've had my head stuck into lately. To my horror, on the first two pages of the first poem, she uses the terms "protozoan flagella" and "spermatozoan tails"! *Gasp!* I can't escape it!
Jokes aside, I didn't mind that language, I actually chuckled with endearment! Hehehe. I like to use scientific verbiage, too, with biology being my main passion, thus it was really cool seeing a creative expression of it.
Poetry is not something I dabble in too often. The only other poetry book I've read was Thus Spoke Zarathustra, for fun, while the other poetry works are randos from school, including a few Shakespearian plays like Macbeth and Othello. Plus, I've dabbled in poetry myself both for school but also to express myself in my journals. Thus, I cannot speak too much about the poetic devices used, nor the significance of this book from a historical, feminist, or literary perspective. What I can speak, however, is how this book made me feel and think.
I thought this was a really weird read, man... I haven't lived even half the life she has. My life has mostly been a shut-in due to clinical depression, autism, loneliness, anxiety, trauma, and COVID in the 2010s and 2020s. She was writing this from the perspective of the 1990s and very earliest 2000s. It was a weird disconnect to wrap my head around. TO IMAGINE the sex and hangouts with guys, the drunken nights, leaving voice mails to a house phone, her pain. It was really weird. It felt invasive, girthy, sensual, melancholic, and verbose.
I liked how it tingled my brain, wrapping around threads that connect my gyrus and sulci.
It was awkward. It was kinda funny. It was playful. It was emotional in the lull sense.
Good book! Good collection of poems! :)
Displaying 1 of 1 review