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We Want Our Bodies Back: Poems
A dazzling full-length collection of verse from one of the leading poets of our time.
Over the past two decades, jessica Care moore has become a cultural force as a poet, performer, publisher, activist, and critic. Reflecting her transcendent electric voice, this searing poetry collection is filled with moving, original stanzas that speak to both Black women’s creative and intellectual power, and express the pain, sadness, and anger of those who suffer constant scrutiny because of their gender and race. Fierce and passionate, Jessica Care moore argues that Black women spend their lives building a physical and emotional shelter to protect themselves from misogyny, criminalization, hatred, stereotypes, sexual assault, objectification, patriarchy, and death threats.
We Want Our Bodies Back is an exploration—and defiant stance against—these many attacks.
Over the past two decades, jessica Care moore has become a cultural force as a poet, performer, publisher, activist, and critic. Reflecting her transcendent electric voice, this searing poetry collection is filled with moving, original stanzas that speak to both Black women’s creative and intellectual power, and express the pain, sadness, and anger of those who suffer constant scrutiny because of their gender and race. Fierce and passionate, Jessica Care moore argues that Black women spend their lives building a physical and emotional shelter to protect themselves from misogyny, criminalization, hatred, stereotypes, sexual assault, objectification, patriarchy, and death threats.
We Want Our Bodies Back is an exploration—and defiant stance against—these many attacks.
224 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2020
35 people are currently reading
1288 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
November 5, 2020
I read this book slowly, from cover to cover. I savored it. I rarely do that with poetry books anymore but as a Black woman, this spoke to me in ways other poetry books don't. It spoke to me in ways other poetry books can't. It spoke to the woman in me, the Black woman in me, the poet in me, the writer in me, the child in me, the person in me, and the human that I am.
Nayyirah Waheed once wrote, " all the women in me are tired "
Today, because of this book, all the women in me, all of the Black women in me, are alive.
Nayyirah Waheed once wrote, " all the women in me are tired "
Today, because of this book, all the women in me, all of the Black women in me, are alive.
April 25, 2020
Because if i don't write
You will write for me
tell historians black girls were
crazy
invisible
lost in time
Wishing to turn our bodies inside out
Become unrecognizable to our own mothers
Desecrate our faces
because we hated our own
mirrors
It's always an endearing encounter to examine the work of a fellow Michigander, and jessica Care moore's latest poetic conquest, We Want Our Bodies Back, is strapped with all the strength and passion only a lyricist of Detroit could muster. Inside, moore runs the gamut of everything from sexual violence, sensuality, and police brutality ("January 3, 1994") to the pangs of creative self-destruction ("I used to be a roller coaster girl") to acts of terrorism against the bodies of Black women, namely those still resisting the grasping hands of white supremacy (made eerily tangible in the collection's titular poem). Simply put, what moore has produced is a body of work that won't back down.
You will write for me
tell historians black girls were
crazy
invisible
lost in time
Wishing to turn our bodies inside out
Become unrecognizable to our own mothers
Desecrate our faces
because we hated our own
mirrors
It's always an endearing encounter to examine the work of a fellow Michigander, and jessica Care moore's latest poetic conquest, We Want Our Bodies Back, is strapped with all the strength and passion only a lyricist of Detroit could muster. Inside, moore runs the gamut of everything from sexual violence, sensuality, and police brutality ("January 3, 1994") to the pangs of creative self-destruction ("I used to be a roller coaster girl") to acts of terrorism against the bodies of Black women, namely those still resisting the grasping hands of white supremacy (made eerily tangible in the collection's titular poem). Simply put, what moore has produced is a body of work that won't back down.
April 7, 2023
I liked a couple lines here and there; wish I liked the poems more.
August 4, 2021
Wow. The way in which these poems discussing OUR BODIES... Were PHENOMENAL! I felt that this collection met Maya and was introduced to Simone, had coffee with Dianna Ross, and had a meal with the Black Panthers, and planned to get Asata out of jail. I felt so many emotions goodness, sadness, angry, and grateful as hell to be a Black woman.
I wish I had the physical copy so I could have taken notes while reading. So many of the poems discussed what it's like to be a human with a vagina and what it is like to be a black woman. There were so many lines that spoke venom and brought you back to life. I found the last line of most of the poems in the collection to be so FUCKING DOPE! (SOMEBODY HAD TO SAY IT).
I think I lost my ability to snap my fingers while reading this collection of peoms! Yass. My absolute favorite parts of a few poems were when black women and indigenous women's experiences were shared and explored.
I wish I had the physical copy so I could have taken notes while reading. So many of the poems discussed what it's like to be a human with a vagina and what it is like to be a black woman. There were so many lines that spoke venom and brought you back to life. I found the last line of most of the poems in the collection to be so FUCKING DOPE! (SOMEBODY HAD TO SAY IT).
I think I lost my ability to snap my fingers while reading this collection of peoms! Yass. My absolute favorite parts of a few poems were when black women and indigenous women's experiences were shared and explored.
March 22, 2020
This is my first time reading a full collection by Jessica Care Moore and I am happy to say it didn't disappoint.
As a Black woman, I often forget how much control I lack over my own body and what that actually means and I think Moore does a fantastic job of addressing what that means for many people.
she takes on very difficult topics: rape, misogyny, xenophobia, etc. The way she writes about them are moving and cause the reader to take a moment to truly process this.
Also, I think about what Black bodies mean in the United States and Moore addresses that as well. I like how she weaved the stories of the victims of police brutality in her poems--it made me happy to see an artist saying their names.
Moore is a true treasure and this collection should be in your must-read pile
As a Black woman, I often forget how much control I lack over my own body and what that actually means and I think Moore does a fantastic job of addressing what that means for many people.
she takes on very difficult topics: rape, misogyny, xenophobia, etc. The way she writes about them are moving and cause the reader to take a moment to truly process this.
Also, I think about what Black bodies mean in the United States and Moore addresses that as well. I like how she weaved the stories of the victims of police brutality in her poems--it made me happy to see an artist saying their names.
Moore is a true treasure and this collection should be in your must-read pile
April 3, 2021
Some of us forced to swim
Before cosmos were cosmopolitan
x
Men will one day see things from a woman’s
Perspective & name it
Vision
x
There is honor in hard work
There is no honor in blind patriotism
—
Jessica Care Moore has so much to say! I loved this series of poetry with every fibre of my being.
I borrowed this from my public library and I’m so glad this exists for me and for other black girls and women to borrow and read it. It’s so timely, it’s so emotional, it gives and gives and pours love and understanding into the reader. It shares in reality and builds a collective space for us to ask questions and to stand and look at each other, for us to reach around and hold each other close if only for the moments where we touch the front cover and the back cover.
I just bought a copy for myself from my local bookstore. I can’t wait to get it in the mail so that I can reach out for this hand to hold whenever my spirit is calling for it. It inspires me.
Miss Moore, thank you so much.
Before cosmos were cosmopolitan
x
Men will one day see things from a woman’s
Perspective & name it
Vision
x
There is honor in hard work
There is no honor in blind patriotism
—
Jessica Care Moore has so much to say! I loved this series of poetry with every fibre of my being.
I borrowed this from my public library and I’m so glad this exists for me and for other black girls and women to borrow and read it. It’s so timely, it’s so emotional, it gives and gives and pours love and understanding into the reader. It shares in reality and builds a collective space for us to ask questions and to stand and look at each other, for us to reach around and hold each other close if only for the moments where we touch the front cover and the back cover.
I just bought a copy for myself from my local bookstore. I can’t wait to get it in the mail so that I can reach out for this hand to hold whenever my spirit is calling for it. It inspires me.
Miss Moore, thank you so much.
Read
May 2, 2021Wow. This was a beautiful collection of poems. There was so much power and heart in each and every one of them.
September 2, 2020
3.5 Stars! This was a great collection!
July 15, 2021
Listened to the audiobook via Scribd!
Once again, another incredibly moving and powerful read on black womanhood, being yourself and standing up in the face of evil and anxiety, and speaking out. T/W for rape, misogyny etc. Beautifully narrated audiobook.
L I N K S:
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Once again, another incredibly moving and powerful read on black womanhood, being yourself and standing up in the face of evil and anxiety, and speaking out. T/W for rape, misogyny etc. Beautifully narrated audiobook.
L I N K S:
My Wishlist-https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/...
Twitter- www.Twitter.com/AllyBookKnot
Ko-Fi-https://ko-fi.com/alicemtb44
Affiliate Link for Waterstones-http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmi...
Affiliate Link for Book Depository-https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinm...
Affiliate Link for Blackwells UK-https://www.blackwells.co.uk/?a_aid=A...
June 19, 2024
A solid 3.5. Moore writes very well and expresses many beautiful and poignant thoughts. Her style is unique…different to the point of seeming disconnected. Almost like stream of consciousness writing. Not a bad thing at all, just not my preferred form of poetry. But I bet hearing her perform her work would absolutely resonate more strongly. I like her voice and her passion on the page, but I think I’d love it more to hear and see it as well.
A great pick for Black History Month. I feel a strong kinship with women of any race, but I recognize my race compared with most has not added to my struggles or my pain. It has not hindered me in my life’s pursuits. It is a privilege. One I did not ask for but a privilege all the same. I wish I could erase the pain of the past, but we all have a history that cannot and should not be erased. We should be proud of who we are and strive to be better than who we were.
A great pick for Black History Month. I feel a strong kinship with women of any race, but I recognize my race compared with most has not added to my struggles or my pain. It has not hindered me in my life’s pursuits. It is a privilege. One I did not ask for but a privilege all the same. I wish I could erase the pain of the past, but we all have a history that cannot and should not be erased. We should be proud of who we are and strive to be better than who we were.
June 14, 2020
Snaps all around. The first three sections of poems - especially the first two - resonated with me the most. Just when I was feeling pulled away in the final section, moore would do that thing poets do and draw me right back to her and the moment of the poem with one line. This is a collection of odes and various forms of requiems for several famous black artists (poets, activists, playwrights, actors, etc.) - folks who stood and stand in their blackness. She also reached out quite specifically to people - like I was reading a personal poetized letter from her to specific people around specific moments that have crystalized for moore. This worked for me at times and not so much in other instances, but it was an immersive experience and I know at least two or three poems that I'll be pulling for my class to analyze.
May 12, 2021
We Want Our Bodies Back is a book of poetry that demands your full attention. I can honestly say that it is one of the most profound collections of poems that I have ever read. I cannot stress it enough how essential I think that everyone needs to read them. Take your time with this collection. Marinate on the words. Savor their composition. You won’t be disappointed.
May 19, 2020
This was a powerful collection and I really appreciated Moore's perspective, especially as an older black woman involved in activism. This didn't connect with me as much as it seemed to for some other readers (hence why I read it twice), but her writing is still solid and important.
February 5, 2021
Absolutely loved this collection. Hands down favorite at this point!
June 4, 2020
jessica Care moore’s collection We Want Our Bodies Back is excellent, powerful reading in America, and if you’re not American, you’ll find it enlightening.
Check out the full review at Grab the Lapels.
Check out the full review at Grab the Lapels.
July 10, 2020
WOW! I needed this book! As soon as I finished this book I got a burst of inspiration. I just started writing a poem and didn't stop until I was finished. So thank you to this book for that.
June 23, 2020
This collection was excellent. Powerful, beautiful, important and timely. Everyone should be reading this and talking about this. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would.
July 31, 2021
Loved the poetry. Wish I could hear it as spoken word.
October 3, 2020
“If we, in fact do “choose” to “give up our bodies,” when do we get to have our bodies back? The door to womanhood can only be entered by a man? Where is the exit?” — Introduction.
We Want Our Bodies Back is my introduction to jessica Care moore’s body of work and was not at all disappointed. It is a collection of poems and a call to action for Black women (specifically) to reclaim our bodies in a society where we fall victim to murder, misogyny, sexual assault, patriarchy and constant threats to our physical and mental beings. In places where our bodies are often not our own, moore reminds us of our creative and intellectual power through example and verse.
moore lends to the diversity of thought and emotion we are constantly subjected to as Black women because of our race and gender. Evidenced in “I am not ready to die,” “Because if I don’t write,” and “I Can’t Breathe (Remembering Eric Garner and Mike Brown).
What I appreciated most about this collection was moore’s IN YOUR FACE style of passionate lyricism and her ability to invoke great meaning and feeling in each poem.
One of my favorite excerpts is representative of just that. From the title piece, “We Want Our Bodies Back”:
Sandra Bland
We will never forget your brown body
your mind your pride your spirit your love
your vow to do God’s work
we want your drive from
Illinois to Waller County back.
We want all our daughters back
& we want them
back
Now.
4.5 stars!
We Want Our Bodies Back is my introduction to jessica Care moore’s body of work and was not at all disappointed. It is a collection of poems and a call to action for Black women (specifically) to reclaim our bodies in a society where we fall victim to murder, misogyny, sexual assault, patriarchy and constant threats to our physical and mental beings. In places where our bodies are often not our own, moore reminds us of our creative and intellectual power through example and verse.
moore lends to the diversity of thought and emotion we are constantly subjected to as Black women because of our race and gender. Evidenced in “I am not ready to die,” “Because if I don’t write,” and “I Can’t Breathe (Remembering Eric Garner and Mike Brown).
What I appreciated most about this collection was moore’s IN YOUR FACE style of passionate lyricism and her ability to invoke great meaning and feeling in each poem.
One of my favorite excerpts is representative of just that. From the title piece, “We Want Our Bodies Back”:
Sandra Bland
We will never forget your brown body
your mind your pride your spirit your love
your vow to do God’s work
we want your drive from
Illinois to Waller County back.
We want all our daughters back
& we want them
back
Now.
4.5 stars!
February 22, 2020
jessica Care moore is a treasure. her new collection pulls together a number of pieces across many years of work to reflect on the cultural and social zeitgeist through a Black woman's lens. moore weaves between deeply personal and universal planes, delivering a multilayered, textured, and honest reflection on themes of self-possession, the Black body, lineage, legacy, cultural production, Black womanhood, love, and communal care. a beautiful set of poems that will no doubt soar off the page in her live performances, where she thrives.
*I was provided a time-limited digital loan of this title by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
*I was provided a time-limited digital loan of this title by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
July 29, 2020
Giving this book five starts even though I'm only 50% finished because Jessica's poetry is just that damn good! I love this book, and her work is truly captivating!
Update: Finished. Still amazing. 💖
Update: Finished. Still amazing. 💖
January 7, 2022
4.75/5
January 3, 2026
See this review and more on Books and Ladders!
Content Warnings: racism, sexism, violence, gun violence, death, misogyny, police brutality
I resonated so hard with these poems, but the structure of some of them just didn't land right with me. The vibe, the words, the emotions that were evoked? 10/10 no notes, but the actual structure of the poems left me wanting something different.
The poems are lush with Black culture and history, the perspective of activism, and what it means to exist in a Black body. This is such a great collection of poems, and can be heavy at times. I sat with this collection overnight before writing my thoughts because I needed to fully feel the impact.
I think this is a collection of poems I will read multiple times and gain something new from after each read. I highly recommend!
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Content Warnings: racism, sexism, violence, gun violence, death, misogyny, police brutality
I resonated so hard with these poems, but the structure of some of them just didn't land right with me. The vibe, the words, the emotions that were evoked? 10/10 no notes, but the actual structure of the poems left me wanting something different.
The poems are lush with Black culture and history, the perspective of activism, and what it means to exist in a Black body. This is such a great collection of poems, and can be heavy at times. I sat with this collection overnight before writing my thoughts because I needed to fully feel the impact.
I think this is a collection of poems I will read multiple times and gain something new from after each read. I highly recommend!
Like my reviews? Buy me a Ko-Fi!
December 21, 2020
Este poemario ha sido uno de los mas poderosos que he leído en toda mi vida, the hate you give es el libro sobre racismo que más me ha tocado, este se viene a posicionar en segundo lugar, la escritora ha sabido plasmar sus sentimientos a través de las páginas que vamos pasando, podemos sentir su furia, su dolor, su frustración, sus ganas y necesidad de un cambio, este no es un libro que te hará sentir bonito, por el contrario, te hará sentir triste y el hecho de que la autora de esta magnífica obra de arte logre hacerte sentir así es muestra de su gran talento.
Estoy muy feliz de haber comprado este libro, no hay nada más bonito que terminar el año con lecturas grandiosas que te dejan satisfecha, esta fue mi gran revelación del 2020, ningún libro que haya salido este año ha tenido tanto impacto ni poder como lo ha hecho este, bien hecho Jessica 👏🏽 todo mi respeto para ti.
Estoy muy feliz de haber comprado este libro, no hay nada más bonito que terminar el año con lecturas grandiosas que te dejan satisfecha, esta fue mi gran revelación del 2020, ningún libro que haya salido este año ha tenido tanto impacto ni poder como lo ha hecho este, bien hecho Jessica 👏🏽 todo mi respeto para ti.
October 20, 2023
We Want Our Bodies Back: Poems by Jessica Care Moore is filled with poems that reminded me that every body is beautiful even when that beauty is obscured, denied, or unseen. Moore details the joys and the abuses the body encounters throughout life with an unassailable emphasis on the bodies of women, the bodies of people of color, and particularly women of color. We Want Our Bodies Back is sometimes a plea, sometimes a demand, sometimes a celebration in this collection of poetry that balances strength, beauty, and vulnerability in its calls for justice and acceptance and sometimes just to be seen. Moore reminds us that every unique body has things in common with every other body. We Want Our Bodies Back is a strong, beautiful statement of rebellion in a world where people's bodies are overpoliced, overlooked, and overexposed.
October 19, 2020
When reading books of poetry, it is not as though I go from page one, page two, etc. It is more like I pick and choose poems to read, I leave it, go back, leave it and return for years. This is another book of Jessica Care Moore's that I will return for inspiration and encouragement. The title poem "We Want Our Bodies Back" has a universal voice of women. Moore was the first Black woman poet I read that sounded like me and she continues to speak her own voice, her individual placement of poem on the page. This book is filled with poems that speak of the Black woman's experience, her creativity, pain, happiness, challenges, all in passionate poems. You will not question if this poet "feels" her poems, her passion and truth is shown.
February 9, 2021
"We Want Our Bodies Back: Poems"
Author: Jessica Care Moore
195 Pages
"How do we construct a survival guide, a poem for our daughters' bodies without throwing up our breakfast?
How do mothers' bodies not implode after telling our sons to comply,
to not speak,
to keep their heads down,
to allow their bodies to be dragged by racist police.
Jim Crow ain't never flown with this much wingspan"
Jessica Care Moore is a poet who is powerful and creative. This book of poetry had me at page 1. The dedication to Sandra Bland further fueled my desire to pick up this book. Her words are magical as she beautifully describes the African American life experience.
Author: Jessica Care Moore
195 Pages
"How do we construct a survival guide, a poem for our daughters' bodies without throwing up our breakfast?
How do mothers' bodies not implode after telling our sons to comply,
to not speak,
to keep their heads down,
to allow their bodies to be dragged by racist police.
Jim Crow ain't never flown with this much wingspan"
Jessica Care Moore is a poet who is powerful and creative. This book of poetry had me at page 1. The dedication to Sandra Bland further fueled my desire to pick up this book. Her words are magical as she beautifully describes the African American life experience.
May 2, 2022
Now that’s a title. This book called out to me before I even laid eyes on it. Now on my shelf, it calls out with authority to anyone who passes through and has the ears to listen its one want in the world: for Black women to be free.
Another entry into the Black Lives Matter movement canon, this collection requires knowledge of the inciting incidents, key moments, and the requisite collective trauma that informs BLM. moore is a primary source on the Ferguson protests largely credited with bringing the BLM movement to flame: she has a singular position and perspective to this moment displayed in poems like We, Too, Sing America and I Can’t Breathe. Her prose, too, is unique in pace and tone, blending with experience to produce a strong voice you won’t hear anywhere else.
The titular poem is a tour de force. It’s a blaze of inspiration and emotion. This poem alone is worth the buy.
My one sticking point with this collection is that I can tell what kind of writer jessica Care moore is- she needs that fire to do her best work. That clarity, that surety, is necessary to see what needs to be ink. moore is not at her best in moments of quiet reflection. Because of that, this collection is a mixed bag. Stanza to stanza, piece to piece, there’s lyrical masterwork and there’s incomplete thoughts.
Like this poem Mixed- this poem is a mixed bag. There’s some absolutely fire imagery in here and some impersonal analogies. I made myself like Maya- another mixed bag- has some AMAZING storytelling in it about needing to teach herself to be black and then brackets out into a side tangent about iPad learning and making a man in her image that lacks differentiation.
I like the ideas not always the execution. I like that black womanhood is painted here unabashedly, the joy, the pain, the beauty, and the warts- but I wish the whole collection took more time to reflect, on the movement and on the self. And overall, the work could be better edited.
Despite that, this poetry is not like anything else I’ve read before. Makes you think differently, connect differently, and evokes that passion that years in the movement might have dulled. Definitely an asset to my collection- I’m glad this book called me to read it.
Another entry into the Black Lives Matter movement canon, this collection requires knowledge of the inciting incidents, key moments, and the requisite collective trauma that informs BLM. moore is a primary source on the Ferguson protests largely credited with bringing the BLM movement to flame: she has a singular position and perspective to this moment displayed in poems like We, Too, Sing America and I Can’t Breathe. Her prose, too, is unique in pace and tone, blending with experience to produce a strong voice you won’t hear anywhere else.
The titular poem is a tour de force. It’s a blaze of inspiration and emotion. This poem alone is worth the buy.
My one sticking point with this collection is that I can tell what kind of writer jessica Care moore is- she needs that fire to do her best work. That clarity, that surety, is necessary to see what needs to be ink. moore is not at her best in moments of quiet reflection. Because of that, this collection is a mixed bag. Stanza to stanza, piece to piece, there’s lyrical masterwork and there’s incomplete thoughts.
Like this poem Mixed- this poem is a mixed bag. There’s some absolutely fire imagery in here and some impersonal analogies. I made myself like Maya- another mixed bag- has some AMAZING storytelling in it about needing to teach herself to be black and then brackets out into a side tangent about iPad learning and making a man in her image that lacks differentiation.
I like the ideas not always the execution. I like that black womanhood is painted here unabashedly, the joy, the pain, the beauty, and the warts- but I wish the whole collection took more time to reflect, on the movement and on the self. And overall, the work could be better edited.
Despite that, this poetry is not like anything else I’ve read before. Makes you think differently, connect differently, and evokes that passion that years in the movement might have dulled. Definitely an asset to my collection- I’m glad this book called me to read it.
April 20, 2022
Right from the introduction you know this is going to be a special journey! When poetry can evoke emotion, tell current truths, salute other poets, AND speak to history, well DAMN. So many good moments, memorable lines creating pleasurable memories. A collection to be sipped and savored slowly so that you swallow all the words and swish them around in your mouth before complete digestion. A fierce and fearless love letter to Black Women. This is the type of collection you turn to again and again and again and….
“Where is the black imagination located?
How much does it cost per square foot
To rent there?”
“Where is the black imagination located?
How much does it cost per square foot
To rent there?”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews