: once teeth bones coral :

by Kimberly Alidio

Poetry. A rendering of queer affects of desire, loss, and travel: ONCE TEETH BONES CORAL: undoes in language normative relations of self, lover, body, nature, verb, noun, adjective, and concept.

In : once teeth bones coral :, Kimberly Alidio pulls language apart and what remains is as striking as it is spare. The form here is a container, haunting in its spaciousness, and gestures towards landscapes, borders, trauma, tenderness, home. Alidio’s poems reveal the “luminous familiar,” traces of the interior that make visible the simultaneity of histories and futures, the possibilities inherent in queer connection, kinship, and refusal. These fragments are precise and expansive, and will resonate for a very long time.
—cheena marie lo

this is a book of echoing and overhearing : breath and trembling : desert and sky : woundedness and gossip : intellectual wandering : time zones, moans, unmanned cocktails, medicine, grief and self-care : kimberly alidio resurfacing : landscapes of queered intimacies : for you to hold close : mucus and saliva : humor and loss : a dyke bar : a rubberplant : compound words and timeless histories : intersectional identities : porous and monumental : once teeth bones coral : now slowing you down : now filling you up :
—Gabrielle Civil

These elemental findings, borrowings, interlocking soundings, overheard poesis-talk shine here in collaboration with the sure hand and ear of Kimberly Alidio. We have a purring queering poem machine, a mix tape spitting forth enigmas for the tongue. Plots, struggles, like shooting stars.

“letspaywerelosinglight” is a movie script.

arroyo

onlyretro

dark

pull

is a creation and destruction myth. “Bloodiron” is a forcefield. Follow the recombinant runes forming new constellations to meet an uncertain “languaging” future. It’s a wild ride.
—Anne Waldman

Genres: Poetry, LGBT

138 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2020

Reviews

[juch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been feeling grumpy about art. Was skeptical of concept, stuff in general being too conceptual/self conscious. Then I read in 30 min and was like yeah, ok! Felt like words hanging on a diorama. Very material. Liked less the parts that were found sentences, less material more academic/argumentative. Pairs well w their sharp and beautiful argumentative essays in the poetry foundation - I guess I like when arguments are posed as arguments. I want to be less grumpy about art - it’s cool when people try things. Gimmick as aesthetic judgment tries but fails to escape capitalistic judgements about labor/having “earned” something -sianne ngai

[angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

a complete disintegration of the use of traditional syntax and semantics to make meaning of relationships. a book that truly is enjoyed if you appreciate the ride but the destination did not let me down.