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Dancing Letters
Native Galvestonian and author Miguel Cruz begins his writing career with Dancing Letters, a collection of poetry that explores love, loss, and obsession through minimalist and blank verse.
- GenresPoetry
119 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 23, 2018
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15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 23, 2019
i found this book deeply unsettling. hear me out. usually when i read poetry, i assume it's a form of creative memoir. Perhaps that is the case here, perhaps not. i am cautious to judge the author if it was meant to be fiction. if it was heartfelt, i hope i never cross paths with the author.
here is why:
every single poem was a version of an obsessive rambling of "you left me, you belonged to me, God gave you to me, my father said i could have a pretty woman to keep like a pet and now you are gone and i am broken and you just dont appreciate a nice guy when you have one."
there are so many poems in this talking about unconditional love and how wonderful the "victim" in the relationship was (aka the one who got dumped) but what concerns me is that there is an undercurrent of codependency, threats, and obsession that makes me very uncomfortable.
whoever this girl is that the entire book is about was not viewed as an autonomous person, but as a prop that the poet felt entitled to possess. the book started out sweet, i thought it was just love poems, but it took a sinister turn very quickly.
NOW. if the girl has since passed away and this is a book about grief, i might view it differently, but the regular wording of "when you remember me.." implies that the person is alive and well. im not sure.
it reminded me of a deeply unsettling Icelandic epic poem called Drapa in which a journalist interviews a man who killed his wife in a blind rage of fury. and this was almost identical. but i dont know if it was on purpose or not and thats why i dont like it.
i will read the reviews from other readers and see if i glean some sort of missed memo in here that might change my mind about it. maybe i just dont get it. idk.
i bought this book in Galveston on a vacation, where the book was being promoted for a local author and i will always support and be glad to spend my money on people who are exploring the creative arts, whether i like the outcome or not. i say this so that the author knows, if in fact, it is a memoir...don't worry that i didn't like your book...you still got my money.
here is why:
every single poem was a version of an obsessive rambling of "you left me, you belonged to me, God gave you to me, my father said i could have a pretty woman to keep like a pet and now you are gone and i am broken and you just dont appreciate a nice guy when you have one."
there are so many poems in this talking about unconditional love and how wonderful the "victim" in the relationship was (aka the one who got dumped) but what concerns me is that there is an undercurrent of codependency, threats, and obsession that makes me very uncomfortable.
whoever this girl is that the entire book is about was not viewed as an autonomous person, but as a prop that the poet felt entitled to possess. the book started out sweet, i thought it was just love poems, but it took a sinister turn very quickly.
NOW. if the girl has since passed away and this is a book about grief, i might view it differently, but the regular wording of "when you remember me.." implies that the person is alive and well. im not sure.
it reminded me of a deeply unsettling Icelandic epic poem called Drapa in which a journalist interviews a man who killed his wife in a blind rage of fury. and this was almost identical. but i dont know if it was on purpose or not and thats why i dont like it.
i will read the reviews from other readers and see if i glean some sort of missed memo in here that might change my mind about it. maybe i just dont get it. idk.
i bought this book in Galveston on a vacation, where the book was being promoted for a local author and i will always support and be glad to spend my money on people who are exploring the creative arts, whether i like the outcome or not. i say this so that the author knows, if in fact, it is a memoir...don't worry that i didn't like your book...you still got my money.
January 3, 2019
Each letter was vital and necessary
This was an excellent read, I found it by accident and I'm so glad i did - there was so much voice and creativity tho this collection. It was an absolute joy to read
This was an excellent read, I found it by accident and I'm so glad i did - there was so much voice and creativity tho this collection. It was an absolute joy to read
May 19, 2018
This was incredibly sad!! The heartache of losing someone you love is the absolute worst. This is filled with so much emotion I can relate to. I absolutely loved reading this.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews