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Licorice
From Kirkus Reviews
“ A debut volume of poetry traces the many flavors—bitter, sweet, and complex—of the feminine experience.
In her collection, Bruno brings together more than 50 poems, some previously published in literary magazines. The opening piece, “In Montana, I Learned To Not Horse Around,” sets the stage for the volume’s overall engagement with expectations for femininity and the reality of possible self-expression. “In my state, the cowgirls were queens. / Crowns rode their heads and jewels rode their fingers,” the poem begins. But this seeming power is a gimcrack pose; in fact, women must obey the rules of chastity, cleanliness, and obedience set for them. In the end, “We climbed into bed. We closed our eyes and hopes politely.” The last line’s zeugma enacts the hidden catch that was there all along, and this subtlety among what are apparently plainspoken sentiments characterizes the collection. It can also be seen in, for example, many poems’ use of rhyme, as in “Platonic Form of a Hot Mess.” Here, lines ending in words like light, bright, right, night, or polite are scattered among nonrhyming ones, as if the poem is, like the speaker, still blinking uncertainly in the sun after living in shadow. The collection follows the speaker’s growing understanding of the traps of femininity and marriage, uncovering wrenching or haunting realities. Motherhood, though, discloses new strengths. In “Getting a Grip,” a new mother is weary, but she’s akin to strongly rooted trees: “They have stretch marks / and still, here they are standing tall and breathing.” The craft of poetry, too, offers a power beyond the limitations of cultural expectations, as in the optimistic final piece, “Second Tongue”: “It is good, the sun kept saying / until the poem put on her sunglasses / and went to work.”
A thoughtful and bracing collection reflective of hard-won insights.”
“ A debut volume of poetry traces the many flavors—bitter, sweet, and complex—of the feminine experience.
In her collection, Bruno brings together more than 50 poems, some previously published in literary magazines. The opening piece, “In Montana, I Learned To Not Horse Around,” sets the stage for the volume’s overall engagement with expectations for femininity and the reality of possible self-expression. “In my state, the cowgirls were queens. / Crowns rode their heads and jewels rode their fingers,” the poem begins. But this seeming power is a gimcrack pose; in fact, women must obey the rules of chastity, cleanliness, and obedience set for them. In the end, “We climbed into bed. We closed our eyes and hopes politely.” The last line’s zeugma enacts the hidden catch that was there all along, and this subtlety among what are apparently plainspoken sentiments characterizes the collection. It can also be seen in, for example, many poems’ use of rhyme, as in “Platonic Form of a Hot Mess.” Here, lines ending in words like light, bright, right, night, or polite are scattered among nonrhyming ones, as if the poem is, like the speaker, still blinking uncertainly in the sun after living in shadow. The collection follows the speaker’s growing understanding of the traps of femininity and marriage, uncovering wrenching or haunting realities. Motherhood, though, discloses new strengths. In “Getting a Grip,” a new mother is weary, but she’s akin to strongly rooted trees: “They have stretch marks / and still, here they are standing tall and breathing.” The craft of poetry, too, offers a power beyond the limitations of cultural expectations, as in the optimistic final piece, “Second Tongue”: “It is good, the sun kept saying / until the poem put on her sunglasses / and went to work.”
A thoughtful and bracing collection reflective of hard-won insights.”
- GenresPoetry
88 pages, Paperback
Published February 20, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 2, 2023
Okay, hear me out: I can tell that this is a good collection of poetry. I know that a bigger/darker story is being told. But, reading this on my own, I'm drawn more to fragments of the poems and not the whole picture of each poem. I think this work would be great discussion pieces in group settings. I think there's a lot to unpack, especially in some of the darker entries. But, for me reading it solo it's not all clicking for me.
Oh, and I didn't really like any of the ones that were clearly religious.🤷🏻♀️
I think my favorite poems were "Skinny Dipping", "Uberfrau", "Leaving the Light On", "Precautions", and ""Men's Voices".
Some of my favorite passages were:
"We ate warm cheese. I watched the Brie give into gravity. She fell out of her thick skin and I understood the word jealousy."
"I beg my hips to look appetizing soon, to be mouthwatering so friends and relatives will bring their forks and knives to the pews."
"I can't believe I never noticed men's eyes exploring like astronauts. Now I see them wandering the corners of the cosmos, weaving between the elements."
"Police dogs can sing out bombs. I cannot. I am nearly middle aged and I still can't tell when a man is a man and when he is an explosion about to detonate on me."
Oh, and I didn't really like any of the ones that were clearly religious.🤷🏻♀️
I think my favorite poems were "Skinny Dipping", "Uberfrau", "Leaving the Light On", "Precautions", and ""Men's Voices".
Some of my favorite passages were:
"We ate warm cheese. I watched the Brie give into gravity. She fell out of her thick skin and I understood the word jealousy."
"I beg my hips to look appetizing soon, to be mouthwatering so friends and relatives will bring their forks and knives to the pews."
"I can't believe I never noticed men's eyes exploring like astronauts. Now I see them wandering the corners of the cosmos, weaving between the elements."
"Police dogs can sing out bombs. I cannot. I am nearly middle aged and I still can't tell when a man is a man and when he is an explosion about to detonate on me."
February 28, 2021
A brilliant collection of poems that chronicle life’s experience. Unique and incisive observation are expressed through these wonderful poems.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews