What do you think?
Rate this book
Love from the Vortex & Other Poems
Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (Kaleidoscope Vibrations, LLC), is poet and scholar-activist Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz’s first full-length collection. An archaeological exploration on love and intimacy, the book charts her journey of finding and losing love over the span of three decades with six different men who came into her life at various times, but also offers a universal take on what can happen when one seeks love and connection with others, and the lessons that follow when that connection and love is lost. Revealing moments of happiness, fantasy, frustration, and eventually dealing with the dissolution of relationships, the book moves beyond these anticipated stages to moments of grace and beauty that come with the discovery and practice of self love, and a more fuller understanding of what it means to truly love someone as you love yourself.
"Sealey-Ruiz opens a world to us in which we are reminded of the importance of speaking truthfully- with both love and rage-- about our past and the lovers and loved ones who bring us to the present-- and home" -- Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone
"raised glass to the glorious risk-and-recovery of life" -- Adam Falkner, The Willies
"Sealey-Ruiz opens a world to us in which we are reminded of the importance of speaking truthfully- with both love and rage-- about our past and the lovers and loved ones who bring us to the present-- and home" -- Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone
"raised glass to the glorious risk-and-recovery of life" -- Adam Falkner, The Willies
- GenresPoetry
209 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2020
44 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz
18 books21 followersYolanda Sealey-Ruiz is an award-winning associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. A sought-after speaker on issues of race, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity, Sealey-Ruiz works with K-12 and higher education school communities to increase their racial literacy knowledge and move toward more equitable school experiences for their Black and Latinx students. Sealey-Ruiz appeared in Spike Lee's "2 Fists Up: We Gon' Be Alright", a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou.
Photo credit: Vincent Jones, II
Photo credit: Vincent Jones, II
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
Read
November 26, 2021"Anger is your lover. / Look at how she adores you, makes you feel / like more of a man."
--Bliss in Flight
"I feel like a secret--Someone to be hidden, tucked
away. I am reminded that I don't really know you. &
if that's the case, then I have been loving
a mask
a trick of the light
a cruel, broken promise."
--[Un]Commitment
--Bliss in Flight
"I feel like a secret--Someone to be hidden, tucked
away. I am reminded that I don't really know you. &
if that's the case, then I have been loving
a mask
a trick of the light
a cruel, broken promise."
--[Un]Commitment
May 28, 2020
Yoalnda Sealey-Ruiz’s beautifully designed book of memoir-poetry is the perfect companion for these trying times. Coupled with gorgeous illustrations, Sealey-Ruiz’s poetry shows us that even in our darkest struggles, there is light ahead. Most importantly, it deals with the one thing that is at once so elusive and so present, if only we took the time to notice it: love. While everyone has at some point in their lives experienced love’s powerful vortex, Sealey-Ruiz shows us that embracing its power and rising above it is the only way out. Let Sealey-Ruiz bring the beauty and love we all need into your home and into your day. You won’t regret it.
August 10, 2020
Professor Sealey-Ruiz's book is, quite simply, a revelation—her book of poems will take you on a journey of self-discovery about what it means to love another person, to love yourself, and perhaps, most of all, what it means to be loved. Her prose is ethereal and evolving, just like her understanding of love does through the book. As I fell deeper and deeper into her world and her words, I found myself physically shaken and emotionally moved to such profound depths as I, too, pondered the complexity of all that love is.
In structure, Sealey-Ruiz’s book is a series of poems that, in part, narrates six of her past relationships—each relationship a collective grouping of poems that, taken together, form a self-reflective journey of a person conceptualizing love, and then re-conceptualizing love over and over again as her understanding of love (and of herself) matures and changes. While Sealey-Ruiz’s poems are deeply personal, they are also deeply relatable—and I found myself intimately feeling her pain and her joy as I thought about my own relationships and my own life. The perpetual vulnerability in her words, the depth of her spirits which she courageously opens up to the reader, and the sheer rawness of her emotions jumped off the page and into my heart. I was able to feel her struggle with trying to understand something so magical and also so visceral—love—and the many ways in which love manifests in our relationships (and in ourselves). I was able to see how the meaning of love evolved to her as she herself grew as a person during her (still ongoing) life journey. And, by the end, I was left to contemplate how, above all, the meaning of life and the people we choose (or do not choose, on purpose or by fate) to share (or not share) this life with is tied up in how we understand what love is in the first place—and what it can be and what it is not. If we are to use the metaphor of love being like a rollercoaster, then Sealey-Ruiz takes you on an excursion through the pain, hurt, anger and loss caused by love, but also the joy, wonder, sheer bliss, and mysteriousness of being immersed in love, too.
Overall, I highly recommend this breathtaking book of poems by Professor Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz. The fact that this book is a deeply personal narrative of six past relationships is already an exceptionally daring act, and then to write with such beauty, poise, and vivacity adds to the significance of this feat. There are too many poems to pick my favorites; for example, in a poem entitled “Today,” Sealey-Ruiz movingly writes about how some of her more jubilant memories with a man will be wrapped, like presents, stored and taken away. In one of her longer poems across ten pages, entitled “A Moment of Remembering What Liberation Feels Like…” Sealey-Ruiz recounts in stirring prose a past relationship, and how the tension around motherhood (among other elements) with one particular lover leads her to seek freedom from their complicated past. Or, in her younger years narrated at the beginning of the book, she vividly describes how the power of love’s grasp can be dictated by small moments of physical affection in the poem “Your Touch.” And, at the end of the book, she also—if differently—elicits the ways in which recognizing the salience of the love she had to give within a relationship was in itself emancipating in the poem “Strength.” In all of the poems throughout the book, Sealey-Ruiz is a master wordsmith; personification, allegories, analogies, metaphors and rich imagery line the pages, often accompanied with black-and-white sketches that add additional wonder to her words. Even though my life experiences could not be more different than those of Sealey-Ruiz, there were moments when I read some of her poems and felt like closing my eyes, imagining that it was I in her shoes, trying to navigate her whirlwind—perhaps, her vortex—of emotions of love and life.
In one of the final poems of the book, in an epilogue-like section of additional poems, Sealey-Ruiz writes that: “...words cannot define Love, words limit what Love can be. Love is what I wish to evolve into, what I imagine one day I can become.” Such words are a fitting summary of this majestic book: there are no words to describe the magnitude of this undertaking and the way in which reading this book will touch your soul like nothing else can.
In structure, Sealey-Ruiz’s book is a series of poems that, in part, narrates six of her past relationships—each relationship a collective grouping of poems that, taken together, form a self-reflective journey of a person conceptualizing love, and then re-conceptualizing love over and over again as her understanding of love (and of herself) matures and changes. While Sealey-Ruiz’s poems are deeply personal, they are also deeply relatable—and I found myself intimately feeling her pain and her joy as I thought about my own relationships and my own life. The perpetual vulnerability in her words, the depth of her spirits which she courageously opens up to the reader, and the sheer rawness of her emotions jumped off the page and into my heart. I was able to feel her struggle with trying to understand something so magical and also so visceral—love—and the many ways in which love manifests in our relationships (and in ourselves). I was able to see how the meaning of love evolved to her as she herself grew as a person during her (still ongoing) life journey. And, by the end, I was left to contemplate how, above all, the meaning of life and the people we choose (or do not choose, on purpose or by fate) to share (or not share) this life with is tied up in how we understand what love is in the first place—and what it can be and what it is not. If we are to use the metaphor of love being like a rollercoaster, then Sealey-Ruiz takes you on an excursion through the pain, hurt, anger and loss caused by love, but also the joy, wonder, sheer bliss, and mysteriousness of being immersed in love, too.
Overall, I highly recommend this breathtaking book of poems by Professor Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz. The fact that this book is a deeply personal narrative of six past relationships is already an exceptionally daring act, and then to write with such beauty, poise, and vivacity adds to the significance of this feat. There are too many poems to pick my favorites; for example, in a poem entitled “Today,” Sealey-Ruiz movingly writes about how some of her more jubilant memories with a man will be wrapped, like presents, stored and taken away. In one of her longer poems across ten pages, entitled “A Moment of Remembering What Liberation Feels Like…” Sealey-Ruiz recounts in stirring prose a past relationship, and how the tension around motherhood (among other elements) with one particular lover leads her to seek freedom from their complicated past. Or, in her younger years narrated at the beginning of the book, she vividly describes how the power of love’s grasp can be dictated by small moments of physical affection in the poem “Your Touch.” And, at the end of the book, she also—if differently—elicits the ways in which recognizing the salience of the love she had to give within a relationship was in itself emancipating in the poem “Strength.” In all of the poems throughout the book, Sealey-Ruiz is a master wordsmith; personification, allegories, analogies, metaphors and rich imagery line the pages, often accompanied with black-and-white sketches that add additional wonder to her words. Even though my life experiences could not be more different than those of Sealey-Ruiz, there were moments when I read some of her poems and felt like closing my eyes, imagining that it was I in her shoes, trying to navigate her whirlwind—perhaps, her vortex—of emotions of love and life.
In one of the final poems of the book, in an epilogue-like section of additional poems, Sealey-Ruiz writes that: “...words cannot define Love, words limit what Love can be. Love is what I wish to evolve into, what I imagine one day I can become.” Such words are a fitting summary of this majestic book: there are no words to describe the magnitude of this undertaking and the way in which reading this book will touch your soul like nothing else can.
Read
May 31, 2020Dr. Sealey-Ruiz's book of poetry is not only heartfelt and uncompromisingly honest, but it is also filled with exquisite and captivating turns of phrase and profound insights. She manifests her heart on every page, displayng both its resilience in the face of pain, disappointment, and suffering and its incredible expansiveness and willingness--even need--to love. Her heart blends with ours through her acknowledgement of its common humanity. With her lovely, poetic words, she shows us that love is both human and divine. And she doesn't shy away from her humanity, which unites us more fully with her. She admits, with love and compassion, the failings and weaknesses of her own heart, which helps us recognize and forgive our own. She graciously accepts the pain she endures from the same mistakes we all make when we reach for the perfect love. And she brings us with her as she questions her heart, her mind, her loves. When we read her poetry, we are not alone. She offers us a powerful, invigorating, and comforting camaraderie. Through sharing with us her relentless surges toward love, despite setbacks, heartbreaks, and pain, she enables us to gain the courage to continue in our individual pursuits of love with confidence that not only will we survive but, regardless of outcomes, will reach a deeper understanding in which we will find a restful peace and a greater potential for self-love. Dr. Sealey-Ruiz offers, with this poetic handbook of love, a helping hand to those who are too timid to free fall into love. She teaches us, gently and persistently, how to love for love's sake. In doing this, she dives into the very depths of her soul and brings up precious gems that she then drapes her reader in as she tells the story of the expansions and contractions of her own most unfathomable and worthy heart. I sincerely hope that no one will miss the unique experience of reading this most remarkable work of poetry, of life!
May 28, 2020
Love from the Vortex & Other Poems is a very compelling, vulnerable, richly honest, and ultimately spiritually uplifting book of poetry. But, it is so much more. Throughout this wonderful book, Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz in her own way reminds us that Love is a powerful rhythm that invites us all at several points in our lives to just dance! And, even for the rhythmically challenged, we should say YES! When we are scared, anxious, and unsure about the immediate future of burgeoning relationships, we should still say yes, I will dance. Yes, Dr. Sealey-Ruiz teaches us through her poetry that when we dance we may glide across the floor, misstep, or even stumble, and some of our dance partners will be captivating, gentle, caressing, skillful (in the right and wrong ways), and committed… and no, some will not. But Love is the rhythm and it sweetly beckons us to dance. She beautifully prompts us with her stanzas that by all means we should dance. And, as our Ancestors have shown us over and over again, there is communication, energy, excitement, learning, yearning, peace, power, and yes, healing in the dance. This poetry speaks! Indeed, Love from the Vortex is more than a book of poetry because it is an intimate journaling of a very generous journeywoman, who has seen many rivers, and who has graciously offered to honestly tell us about them. So, I challenge you to inhale, and take this delightful and breathtaking journey with this Healer, and see if you don’t embrace humanity a little tighter. As you exhale, feel yourself smile, cry, cheer, cuss, shout, SNAP, laugh, and answer the call of Love from the Vortex. You will be glad that you did!
April 21, 2020
I enjoyed reading Yolanda's poems which communicate a felt sense of her personal journey holistically expressed. Each poem is a particular piece of an evolving story; each section of poems connects with the next as part of an evolving reflection on life. The poems demonstrate how expressive presentational knowing brings and shares meaning from felt experiences. The inner Yolanda, emerging through the practice of poetry makes a connection with the reader.
As I meditatively read Yolanda's poems, an analogy arises for me with one of the writings of Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now) who uses the metaphor of a person being like a lake.
"The outer situation of your life and whatever happens there is the surface of the lake. Sometimes calm, sometimes windy and rough, according to the cycles and seasons. Deep down, however, the lake is always undisturbed. You are the whole lake, not just the surface, and you are in touch with your own depth".
In reading the poems I felt like in writing these poems Yolanda has been finding the peace of the inner bottom of the lake. This is an example of how writing poems is a reflective process. A very impressive collection.
Lyle Yorks
As I meditatively read Yolanda's poems, an analogy arises for me with one of the writings of Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now) who uses the metaphor of a person being like a lake.
"The outer situation of your life and whatever happens there is the surface of the lake. Sometimes calm, sometimes windy and rough, according to the cycles and seasons. Deep down, however, the lake is always undisturbed. You are the whole lake, not just the surface, and you are in touch with your own depth".
In reading the poems I felt like in writing these poems Yolanda has been finding the peace of the inner bottom of the lake. This is an example of how writing poems is a reflective process. A very impressive collection.
Lyle Yorks
May 31, 2020
After struggling to find the right words for so long, I have to admit that Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz' book "Love from The Vortex" always has me feeling some sort of way that words can't do justice.
Is that a bad thing?
No, that's one of the best things about it.
That the tales of every rise and fall that love has had to offer Yolanda throughout life has me wanting to be in love again, until it reminds me of the worst ways intimacy and trust can hurt, only to bring me back up to that floating feeling of a budding crush over and over, and over and over - and then here I am, swept up in that vortex real hard.
This is a book where I feel that there's no need to be ashamed of loving, and wanting to be in love, and wanting to love myself, and that progress ebbs and flows, is lost and returned, is forgotten and relearned - and that it's ok!
And it's inevitable!
And it's normal.
That it's human.
Truly, the text on the page is of love spanning the years with different men, but deep inside, what I've experienced as I read this masterpiece is that long, long, worthwhile journey of learning to love yourself.
Is that a bad thing?
No, that's one of the best things about it.
That the tales of every rise and fall that love has had to offer Yolanda throughout life has me wanting to be in love again, until it reminds me of the worst ways intimacy and trust can hurt, only to bring me back up to that floating feeling of a budding crush over and over, and over and over - and then here I am, swept up in that vortex real hard.
This is a book where I feel that there's no need to be ashamed of loving, and wanting to be in love, and wanting to love myself, and that progress ebbs and flows, is lost and returned, is forgotten and relearned - and that it's ok!
And it's inevitable!
And it's normal.
That it's human.
Truly, the text on the page is of love spanning the years with different men, but deep inside, what I've experienced as I read this masterpiece is that long, long, worthwhile journey of learning to love yourself.
May 25, 2020
At the heart of Love from the Vortex and Other Poems is the insight and clairvoyance that Yolie gains documenting the journey of her desire to love and be loved. She documents the expectations, the bliss, and the disappointments of those for whom she finds refuge in the possibilities of what love can bring, and the insight to preserve herself from the reoccurring sadness that comes of unrequited love. Yolie takes us on her journey with each of the six that evokes pure love with a tinge of imaginative eroticism, an awakening of being that leads to her own victorious self-discovery and self-love. Love from the Vortex represents the documentation and memorializing of how love can hurt and liberate one to continue to heal through loving themselves; while finding hope and patience in loving another. This book is for any woman who may have experienced pain in love and loving and who are uncertain of how to heal. It is exceptional as Yolie demonstrates through this journey that healing happens when one continues to LOVE!
October 11, 2020
Love From the Vortex is a deeply readable, deeply personal collection of poems. The language is real, lyrical, beautiful, clever, and devastating-- a gift of vulnerability and healing. Each cluster of poems reveals some new bend of the author’s journey with love. I was especially amazed with the author’s ability to vividly relive moments of bliss and grace within relationships that ultimately unraveled, providing a textured, nuanced, complete picture of each ex.
I love how the author plays with structure. In addition to the Vipassana poems at the end of the book, another great example is “Alas, The Tide (of Words)” which is a text message poem. It occurs to me that there are few things as private as a look into someone’s texts with a lover. Throughout the book, Sealey-Ruiz shares her vulnerable exchanges and experiences with the world. I highly recommend Love From the Vortex!
I love how the author plays with structure. In addition to the Vipassana poems at the end of the book, another great example is “Alas, The Tide (of Words)” which is a text message poem. It occurs to me that there are few things as private as a look into someone’s texts with a lover. Throughout the book, Sealey-Ruiz shares her vulnerable exchanges and experiences with the world. I highly recommend Love From the Vortex!
May 25, 2020
It’s difficult to choose one way to describe this book. It is pure poetry, genuine vulnerability, deep compassion, real love. Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz beautifully displays the power of loving self and loving others. She openly explores and leans into the deepest parts of her pain and trauma, but also shows the incredible peace and healing she discovers through the exploration of her life experiences. The kind of reflection that is done throughout this book shows that love wins and triumphs over any kind of fear or shame. If you are looking for a poetry book of healing and love, this book is the one. There is no question about it.
May 25, 2020
I am sure at one point or another, I was each of these men portrayed in these poems for many different women. Love from the Vortex became a mirror of sorts... As I saw myself see myself as Joseph, Angel, and even Tyrone, I became concerned, happy, ashamed, and hopeful. I reflect on the “friends” that wanted more than friendship... those more than friendships that should have only been friends. The vortex forced me to recon with my “what if’s” and made me realize that all of my experiences in life have shaped me for my present. Now, I can safely say that while my past has shaped who I am, my past does not decide my future. -Dr. Anderson Smith
May 25, 2020
Love From the Vortex is written in a way in which I feel a connection with the words as a reader. The emotions are felt throughout reading which allows me to unpack what it truly means to love and be loved. The book is a true testament of love as it is beautifully written and felt in every word. It truly challenges me to reimagine how love shows up in all forms throughout life spiritually, mentally, physically, and personally. It allows the reader to fall into “the vortex” and connect with what that truly means while contemplating and reconnecting with the wonders of how that shows up for the individual being wrapped in love daily as well as throughout life.
May 3, 2021
“Words cannot define Love, words limit what Love can be. Love is what I wish to evolve into, what I imagine one day I can become.”
Love from the Vortex and Other Poems reminds us that it takes a courageous heart to love, a beautiful mind to be authentic and a spiritual connection to heal. Dr. Yolanda is a gift to us all!
This is a healing book for anyone ready to embrace unconditional self-love as a practice by understanding that we cannot give what we don’t have.
It was a wonderful experience to have had a conversation with Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz during a podcast interview! Her loving presence, Divine wisdom, and clarity reflected her commitment to changing lives!
Love from the Vortex and Other Poems reminds us that it takes a courageous heart to love, a beautiful mind to be authentic and a spiritual connection to heal. Dr. Yolanda is a gift to us all!
This is a healing book for anyone ready to embrace unconditional self-love as a practice by understanding that we cannot give what we don’t have.
It was a wonderful experience to have had a conversation with Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz during a podcast interview! Her loving presence, Divine wisdom, and clarity reflected her commitment to changing lives!
May 29, 2020
What a gem, Dr. Sealey-Ruiz has given us?! This book of poetry speaks to us in ways no other genre could. It takes us on a journey through the many faces of love and the lessons we learn. Love from the Vortex is a model of sharing our vulnerabilities through writing in ways that reveal the universality of a common human experience such as love. I see myself in these poems, I see Dr. Sealey-Ruiz, and I see all of humanity. These poems have offered me solace, contemplation, connection, and love. I look forward to curling up with this gem many more times to come.
June 3, 2020
Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz beckons us into the vortex and speaks, as exquisite writers do, words which capture precisely moments unique to her experience and yet somehow about ours too. Each page radiates simultaneous vulnerability and strength; through Dr. Sealey-Ruiz, we learn that the two are one and the same. She shows us that a relationship broken offers an opportunity to rebuild the self—but not to close, not to seal off. To open, and to open perhaps still more fully with each break. Dr. Sealey-Ruiz opens us all to love and the beauty of its precariousness.
March 7, 2021
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz opens a window into her soul to share a compelling collection of her histories with love. In doing so, her poems invite us to consider how our relationships are a journey that is unfettered and flowing no matter how the difficult the terrain may be. Her strength in her vulnerability sparks courage for her readers to reflect on their pasts and in doing so learn to love and be compassionate to oneself. I found comfort in her honesty and felt as though this book was rather an intimate conversation that we might have in her office while drinking tea.
Read
May 25, 2020I am not a regular poetry reader. But this collection of brilliance from Dr. Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz has helped reignite my love affair with poetry. Love From the Vortex offers a peak into the passions and vulnerabilities of intimate love, and boldly challenges readers to explore and embrace the twists and turns of love. As always, Dr. Sealy-Ruiz extends care and compassion, almost hugging the reader closer with the turn of each page. Thank you Dr. Sealy-Ruiz for opening your heart for all of us.
May 25, 2020
Love from the Vortex is one of the best books of poetry I've read in many years. Dr. Sealy-Ruiz has accomplished one of the most difficult tasks a poet can undertake. Love from the Vortex is both achingly personal, yet profoundly accessible to readers. Sealey-Ruiz writes about deep places that we all need to enter but are sometimes afraid to go. Love from the Vortex provides both the key and the door to that place.
Perry
Perry
May 26, 2020
In this beautiful book of poetry, Dr. Sealey-Ruiz opens up her heart and pours forth from it beautiful poetry. As she reflects on six past relationships, the reader is invited to explore the value of the connections in our lives, past and present, and to be happy to have known love - and that which lies in its shadow. A wordsmith with a big soul, the author has created a work of art you won't want to put down every time you read it.
May 29, 2020
Sealy-Ruiz eloquently reminds us of how complex love is through Love from the Vortex. Through this intimate look at her journey we are reminded of the good, the bad, and everything in between that has influenced our own relationships. Each poem gives the reader an opportunity to reflect on who they were and who they are now. Vulnerability combined with such honesty makes this a refreshing and inspiring work of art. Ultimately this book is an expression of love and most importantly self love.
May 30, 2020
Anyone who picks up Love from the Vortex and has lived and loved deeply will catch glimpses--in some cases, full-size portraits--of themselves and their significant others at the best and worst of times.
Healing and growth require vulnerability, courage, and love, especially love for oneself. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz's beautiful, insightful collection shows us how to step up to the plate and do that work, faithfully and without apology.
Healing and growth require vulnerability, courage, and love, especially love for oneself. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz's beautiful, insightful collection shows us how to step up to the plate and do that work, faithfully and without apology.
May 11, 2020
This poetry brings young and old to tears. The humanity that Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz displays with her soliloquy is unparalleled currently. It expresses the depth and clarity of feminine energy. The poems brought me to tears and facilitated healing, it taught me things, and gave me the strength to love again.
May 26, 2020
I'm so happy this book is in the world. Yolanda writes honestly & directly about love and all its struggles. It takes courage to be so open, and I believe this book can do some real healing work. Yolanda is also a wise & powerful educator, and this book reminds me of her teaching, especially her belief in the human need to write freely & from the heart.
Currently reading
May 29, 2020I admire the author being so vulnerable and vulnerable enough to share with the world. This book allows me to see into the Soul of what Love feels like from another human. A strong, beautiful African-American woman who cared enough to share her gift on our hearts. Lastly, Love on the Vortex helps us as humans understand the significance of Love and Healing.
June 1, 2020
Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz’ Love from the Vortex and Other Poems offers insight into the vagaries of love. Sealey-Ruiz’ words voice give voice to the viscera as it explores the complexities of bravery and softness in ways that are native to Black women and accessible to all. Her poems offer labyrinthine lessons. This class is a favorite.
June 1, 2020
Love from the Vortex takes you on one of realest journies of true love, heartbreak, intimacy, and healing. A must have collection of poems.
My husband found this book of poems to be very erratic and moving. Reading the poems together allowed us to explore deeply our own intimacies and love stories.
Love from the Vortex is as inspirational as Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni.
My husband found this book of poems to be very erratic and moving. Reading the poems together allowed us to explore deeply our own intimacies and love stories.
Love from the Vortex is as inspirational as Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni.
June 5, 2020
I am of the belief that we leave a part of ourselves in the books we read and our whole self in the books we write. The pages from Love from the Vortex & Other Poems carry the pieces of a woman who dismantled her entire self, becoming vulnerable, yet stronger than ever before through ink and paper. I was caught in the Vortex. I bought my way out with a part of my self.
June 25, 2020
Love from the Vortex is an amazing collection of love stories. In strength and vulnerability, Yolie takes us through her journey of loss, hope and self growth. In reading, I was inspired to take my own look at how the act of being loved and loving has impacted my own life. This is a book that you can return to again and again, and get something different each time.
July 2, 2020
I really loved this book. I’m not a huge poetry fan but this is an amazing way to discuss love. Each poem paints a vivid picture of the connection (or lack of one), experience and emotions associated with Yolanda’s romantic partners. It’s a wonderful read. I highly recommend it! Great book club read because it’s something you can discuss and relate your life/personal experiences to.
August 7, 2020
These poems are humanity artistically woven on the loom of life. Each poem brings the reader in touch with love expressed in human relationship—and all the spirals and stability it takes to love. The reader is invited into the Vortex. To be human, truly and fully, it takes courage and patience, especially with yourself.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews