Instruments of the True Measure: Poems (Volume 83)

by Laura Da'

Instruments of the True Measure charts the coordinates and intersections of land, history, and culture. Lyrical passages map the parallel lives of ancestral figures and connect dispossessions of the past to lived experiences of the present. Shawnee history informs the collection, and Da’s fascination with uncovering and recovering brings the reader deeper into the narrative of Shawnee homeland. Images of forced removal and frontier violence reveal the wrenching loss and reconfiguration of the Shawnee as a people. The body and history become lands that are measured and plotted with precise instruments.

Surveying and geography underpin the collection, but even as Da’ investigates these signifiers of measurement, she pushes the reader to interrogate their function within the stark atrocities of American history. Da’ laments this harsh dichotomy, observing that America’s mathematical point of beginning is located in the heart of her tribe’s “I do not have the Shawnee words to describe this place; the notation that is available to me is 40°38´32.61´´ N 80°31´9.76´´ W.”

Genres: Poetry, Native American, Adult

75 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2018

Reviews

[Chase! · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the poem “Pain Scale Treaties,” there is a line that might be the thesis of the book: “Any treaty is an artifact of unimaginable suffering.” Then again, in another poem (“Tremors”) the speaker says: “Perched on the shoulders of generational trauma sit these two theses: suffering begets cruelty begets suffering begets cruelty, and pain is empathy’s catalyst.” These poems engage with rich philosophical questions in a manner that engaged with my knowledge (and lack thereof) of the history of our continent, the violent marks made through that history on maps, on treaties, on the natural world, and yes, on bodies, and the mathematical calculations and justifications made to dehumanize, to colonize, and to capitalize. Yet to say this book is only about history and about suffering is a mistake. There are incredible stories here, real humans and humanity, breathtaking descriptive language. It reminds me that to describe such a thing piecemeal (while it’s kind of all I can do in such a small space), is also to do the thing a disservice. I hope this is enough to let folks know that this is a book that contains much to savor and study, and will be well-worth revisiting often.

[Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poet Laura Da’, “a citizen of two nations: Shawnee and American”, writes in a way that is, somehow, both spare and beautifully descriptive. The poetry and prose in this collection deal with the broad themes of western expansion and 1830 Indian Removal Act, but certainly reach farther as they connect long strands of history, culture and the arrival of settler colonialism. The piece Pain Scale Treaties includes this line: “I used to wince at photocopies of old treaty papers -- fragile shrouds from this voracious consumption”.

Da’s vivid imagery and storytelling honor the gravity of this history, and her phrasing makes many poems feel so immediate that you can hear the displaced families breathing.

[Stephen Page]

Surveying While Ethnic Cleansing, A Poetic Account - Having Shawnee in my genotype, even though my phenotype is Scottish/English/Anglo-Saxon, I was able to empathize much with this fine collection of poems by Laura Da'. Note that everyone can appreciate the exceptional poetics.

[bibliophagy]

i had a hard time with this one even though i can just feel that it has a lot to offer. the beginning and end lost me, but i was all in somewhere in the middle. i likely need to come back around to this one some day.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems about family and land and history and pain. Highly recommended for adults.

[Hannah Notess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the mini prose narrative interspersed with the narrative poems in the formal structure of the book

[Kate Elliott]

I love how tactile this is.

[Melissa Helton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the memoir of a family and a nation in verse. A great collection that brings history up into the breathing world, where it should be.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rigorous history and unveiling how history is framed, using tools of surveying.

[H.V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and thought-provoking!

[Diana Arterian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm grateful to have had the supreme and rare pleasure of seeing a book at a book fair and, drawn to its cover, picking it up—and finding this incredible volume of work inside.