A beautiful collection of feminist and mental health poems
Beautifully Chaotic would be your average poetry collection about mental health and recovery, except it's not average at all. The voice of this collection, which belongs to Danielle Holian, is fierce, forward-facing, and determined. She tackles difficult subjects in this collection, in poems such as "Fight or Flight" p28 and "Punching Bag" p36. But Holian provides thorough warning to the reader in the book's front matter about the inclusion of these topics. I think this is good practice. Holian's warning prepared me to engage with her challenging, thought provoking poems. I love a good introduction, and this book is missing one, but the acknowledgements at the end will give you a deeper connection to the book and author.
Holian handles writing about emotion well; this collection intimates more than just the expected reactions to the speakers' experiences and feelings, which makes the poetry interesting. For example, in "Thrilling and Terrifying" on p151, the speaker "cannot feel alive and happy / All at the same time." "Anxious Disruptions" on p22 describes certain aspects of anxiety perfectly, creating a stunning reading experience: "So I stride / Gliding across the floor like a dancer / But... I feel stuck in a moment of uncertainty."
The lyricism of "Parallel Universe" is stunning. I love that it addresses the importance of a person's effort in finding happiness or giving it up, to make what we can in life.
This was a really thick collection, over 200 pages. But still, contemporary IG poets, when writing their collections, need to be careful not to duplicate material. A few times in my reading of Beautifully Chaotic, I thought I had accidentally backtracked because I was reading a poem that sounded so similar to one I had read earlier in the collection.
"Tiptoe" p26 is a perfect example of one of this collection's poems with a great concept -- a man's fingers on the speaker's spine equates to him walking on her, a strong metaphor and image -- but the execution is clumsy. And Holian favored minimalist punctuation but some of the poems, such as "Empty Wishes" p27, would benefit in clarity for a few commas.
I love the feminist twist in this collection, from theme to style. We find a catcalling theme in "Shell" p38 and empathy toward addiction and its related struggles in "Drowning Out" p41. Body-shaming in "All These Years" p58 and women's unity in "Sisterhood" p67. Gender roles appear in "A Compliment Battle" p147 and "First Home" p126 gets feminist, and biblical about it. Read this book! You will find more examples of feminist poetry than I could ever list.
In mental health collections like Beautifully Chaotic, I think optimism is important. I love the self-love messages Holian wrote in many of her mental health pieces, including "Empathy" p60, "Artist" p64, "Expressful Creativity" p65, "No Choice" p88, and others, like forgiveness in "Growth" p93, and relying on others in " Happy Accidents" p93.
All said, this is a great collection about mental health and what women need to pick themselves up. The poems are strong and also touching, a winning combination. Any criticism I may have I think is outweighed by the pleasure I took in this book, and the inspiration I drew from it. Grab a copy of this very solid collection; you won't regret it!