Duality is a modern poetry collection focused on how to live and thrive in the extremes of life. Read along to see how true freedom comes when we realize we do not need to limit ourselves to one side of the story; We can be both, or all things that we want to be. The journey to living amidst the chaos is broken into five sections: Light, Dim, Dark, Grey, Gold. These poems process the parts of life that aren't always pretty, such as trauma, mental health, and pain. But there is also hope, and poetry that highlights empowerment, love, and growth all in one. We are our strongest when we recognize that every part of ourselves can exist together.
For the themes of duality, non-linear healing, and faith, it was enjoyable. My favorite poem was Time is a Romantic. It had beautiful imagery; it made me smile. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the right audience for Instagram poetry. I prefer less surface-level meaning. I want to think about what a poem means instead of being told. Additionally, so many of the 'poems' in this book are literally just lists.
I'll start with what I enjoyed - the poet, Sage, seemed so authentic with her writings. It felt like reading someone's diary and came off as very unfiltered. I felt she was completely herself and I agree with her view on most topics. These factors make it hard for me to share what I didn't like about the work, because I do have respect for the poet. One of the negative aspects of it reading like a diary is at times I feel like I was just reading the poet's long-winded rants. A lot of the poetry had almost the same template or rhythm (you know the template where the poet has like a heavier stanza at the top but then the end just has one word sentences for 2 or 3 lines, often repeating a word). Another factor that made the book difficult for me to read was the over-explanation of a lot of the metaphors. It seemed sometimes the poet couldn't decide which direction she wanted to take the metaphor... So she just chose all of them. And then explained explicitly what the metaphor meant.. which defeats the metaphor? Overall, the writing style feels a little rough. It appeals to my inner angsty and artsy 16yr old, and I've had the same "ugh why am I cursed with being so deep... I've built my castle out of pain" thoughts, so I'm not trying to shame someone for just being open about those feelings. I'm not an expert poet or anything. Or a professional critic. But I feel this poet has great potential that hasn't been met quite yet.
I have a lot of the same issues with this collection that I had with Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey - everything feels very unfinished and not well thought through. There are typos, several pieces are nearly indistinguishable from others, and the topic jumps around way too much to be called cohesive. I also did not enjoy how preachy this book was. Honestly, Goodreads should tag it under the Spirituality or Religion genres. It's billed as a collection about living and thriving under extreme circumstances, but it's answer boils down to "be a Christian". The enitre last section, the one titled Golden, bordered on toxic positivity - which is so ironic considering Leroux condemned toxic positivity culture earlier on. While I did enjoy two poems in particular, Holy Ground and Pretty Pain, a lot of the book just felt really inauthentic and almost aggressively proselytizing. I feel like many, many Christians would love and relate to these poems, but if you're not Christian a lot of them fall flat. It's hard to take advice on how to pull yourself up from a dark place in your life when that advice is to conform to someone else's worldview.
Read for the 2021 Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge, Prompt #21: A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u"
Loved it! So authentic and beautifully written. Duplicity was a joy to read and I look forward to reading more from this talented author in the future.