Cleave

by Darla Himeles

In Cleave (vb: 1. to adhere firmly & closely, loyally & unwaveringly / 2. to divide by or as if by a cutting blow: split), Darla Himeles writes a path of transformation. In vivid, attentive poems that explore early trauma, various meanings & makings of home, & the struggle to conceive, Cleave offers songs of survival, forgiveness, familial & lesbian love, & being "alive & determined to live all the way to the unfathomable depths / I once called abyss."

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

Published April 1, 2021

About the author

Darla Himeles, a Philadelphia-based poet, essayist, and translator, holds an AB in English from Bryn Mawr College, an MFA in poetry and poetry in translation from Drew University, and a PhD in American literature from Temple University. She is the author of Cleave (Get Fresh Book,s 2021) and Flesh Enough (Get Fresh Books, 2017) and has been published widely. Recent work can be read in The Night Heron Barks, NAILED Magazine, and Lesbians are Miracles. Follow her on Instagram @darlahimelespoetry.

Reviews

[A.E. Bross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not ready for this.

I thought I was, having experienced (not read, experienced) Himeles's work prior to this, but I was wrong.

Cleave is a collection of poetry cutting a broad swath of beauty and song through topics such as trauma, growth, home, love, and the fight to conceive. It's a brutally honest and tender, an unflinching telling of the realities of being human and seeking out the experiences that come with such a condition.

I cannot give enough praise to this collection. There were poems that left me struggling for air, their power and impact hitting with such force that I had to put the book down and remind myself to breathe. The power inherent in Himeles's words is stunning, to the point of having a palpable weight.

Some poems that struck me more than others were: Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of, with lines like, "She is clean & wise & noble, / & her babies number seven, oh holy. / no god would throw demons / upon her. No god would send such beauty / to drown," and American As Apple Pie, wherein the violence and grim reality of U.S. hypocrisy and the reality of ICE is laid bare.

I could go on, but to do so would be to quote or discuss almost every poem, and then take from you the beauty of discovery, which I won't do. What I will do is say that I highly recommend this book and hope you will experience the same swelling mix of emotions as you explore Himeles's poetry.

I would caution that while the book has no explicit trigger or content warnings, the description does hold the hard realities and issues that the poetry explores. There are also some depictions of violence that may be triggering. Be kind to yourself.

[Basia · Rating 5 out of 5]

That to "cleave" can mean to "split" or, its opposite, to "adhere," depending on its context, is evident throughout this collection, where home is a site of traumatic origins and later, a lush sanctuary our speaker had once only dreamt of. Darla Himeles mines this single word's oxymoronic quality with grace and refreshing perspective. She offers tremendous tenderness to past selves, promising the future's bliss will rival earlier tumult, where "our someday beloved's slick hands knead cocoa butter into our cracked soles, how breezes blow crisp, sweet, through our future rooms—vanilla, coffee, lavender—" And such generosity extends even to those who have failed to reciprocate it, like the troubled father with his face "awash in pollen," dusted with "crushed ochre" and stained "the color of sunset." "Dear terrible man," our speaker says of him, "thank the lilies / for my tenderness." Considering home, the poet adeptly inventories the nests she has seen wrecked and ransacked, but ends with the hopeful architecture of her own, a nest now buttressed by love and lively with a long-awaited child whom she declares "a vision we believe, the ether / to which we cleave."

[Amy Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cleave is a thoughtful, thought provoking, touching and brilliantly written collection of poetry. Darla Himeles is a poet in the style of the great classical writers, but with a modern sensibility. She writes of everyday sadnesses and triumphs in a clean, modern and exquisitely creative and deliciously readable way. Five star!!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intimate, excruciating, and a profound collection. I loved this one!

[Barbara Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darla Himeles’s outstanding collection of poems, “Cleave,” presents poetry at its best. Her skill and obvious love of language have blown me away.

I have admired Himeles's writing for many years, from even before she started publishing in magazines and journals, and it's been a true pleasure to witness the steady development of her poetry over time. Her fine-tuned writing skills and craft achieve literary art in her chapbook, "Flesh Enough," and in this, her first full-length collection of poems, "Cleave."

While discussing Himeles as a person might seem beside the point in a review of "Cleave," I have known her personally for a long time and want you to know that the poet who wrote this book moves through the world with a generous artistic spirit. She reads and talks about others' poetry all the time, and she spends a lot of behind-the-scenes energy helping others find their poetic voices and audiences and celebrating the achievements of other writers. She is always engaged with the larger poetry community, and Himeles remains true to her core values of being a good person, being productive, and helping others as she rises above very traumatic experiences in her life. She is a talented poet who can express herself in such a way that her poems bring me to feel each emotion in my heart.

In “Cleave,” Himeles often describes personal experiences using first-person narrative, careful diction, and skilled expressions of poetic form and syntax. Her poems movingly attest to the empathetic presence and perception with which Himeles has occupied her life. In these poems, Himeles does much to help others who might relate to some of the difficult experiences and relationships she has lived through. In her ability to craft fine poems that untangle terrible childhood events, she gives others courage to go forward with their best life after trauma.

An example of Himeles's resilience in the aftermath of trauma is found, for example, in her painful poem, “Breach.” Her courage in writing about the legacy of sexual assault no doubt helps countless others. I cannot read “Breach” without crying. While the poem itself avoids traumatizing readers (it's not itself an assault or even graphic in nature), I weep as I imagine the horrific experience she experienced as a young teenager. The poem offers readers hope in its final lines by beautifully expressing a journey of healing that eventually includes her beloved wife.

When I finished reading “Cleave,” all the poems flashed in my head over and over, and the next day I read “Cleave” two more times. The book is so much more than a testament to survival: the poems give voice to deep wells of strength and Himeles's determination to make the most of her life, including falling in love, becoming married, having a child, and achieving a PhD. (Himeles's PhD is not mentioned in any of the poems, but as one of Himeles's cheerleaders I think it's significant that Himeles writes not only from self-knowledge but from her profound knowledge and appreciation of poetic tradition and craft, refined both in her MFA and in her PhD.) Himeles is an eloquent and accomplished poet, an active part of the poetry community, and always an involved citizen committed to various expressions of activism.

Everyone who reads “Cleave” encounters an extraordinary book. Your first thought after you read “Cleave” will be that you'll want to tell others about this book. Please do.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a gift to walk into a friend's life through reading her book of amazing poems. Thank you, Darla Himeles, for your collection of breathtaking poems in "Cleave". Your poems not only reveal you but lead me to see myself more clearly. Each time I read your poems, I learn more about love, resilience, grace, forgiveness, joy, and transparency....yours and mine. "Cleave" is a beautiful touchstone.

[Aaron Caycedo-Kimura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cleave by Darla Himeles (Get Fresh Books Publishing, 2021) is a powerful and impressive collection. Well-organized into six sections, the book touches on the poet’s traumatic childhood, her relationship with her wife, their attempts to conceive, her present day relationship with her father, and her relationship with her young daughter. In these boldly candid poems, Himeles takes an honest look at her life (daring to go where few do), sharing with her readers how difficult, often painful, and joyful, it has been to navigate thus far.

Especially powerful, is how the poet “cleaves” to her relationship with her father in spite of all the violence and abuse in her early life. In “Tony the Cat” from the book’s first section, Himeles writes:

Against the garage door hurled
Tony like a javelin, in his tuxedo
coat, with his animal shriek, a body
Dad could twist in his hands,
a soft body, proxy for Mom’s—
or mine, maybe, if his rage had ever
been tempted.

Then in “Among the Things I Haven’t Asked My Father Because I Love Him” from the fourth section, she writes, “9. What made you love us with such radiant eyes? Who taught you to treasure us like that? What light do you hide inside you, & where does it go when it goes?” Himeles doesn’t ignore the pain, but chooses to walk the delicate line of love and grace.

The production quality of the book is also excellent. The layout of the front and back covers and of the poems inside is beautiful—easy on the eyes—and the book’s nearly-square shape is unusual and attractive, especially with photographer Dawn Surratt’s stunning image on the cover. Get Fresh Books did right by Himeles’ remarkable and brave work.

[Bruce Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have known Darla a good while, and knew her skills as a poet, her gifs of metaphor, sound, spacing and wonder. What I didn't know before reading through the bulk of 'Cleave,' was the greatness of her heart -- the great depths of emotion, rawness and tenderness found in these pages. The trueness and sometimes heartbreak of family trauma. There is so much about place in these pieces, all beautifully wrought, and so much about time spent, time endured and yes, time lost.

I have to say my favorite poem here is 'In the Middle of Of,' the first poem I read, at random. In this poem, near the end she invokes so poignantly, that beautiful and awful transition, from child to adolescent, a girl of "11 or 13," lying "on the white striped crosswalk, / asphalt still warm from Los Angeles sun." On a personal note, the lines in "Cleave,' that spoke so clearly to me, are from "Santa Monica Pier, where "Each decade warps / the wood pier further, brings forth another busker / with a Whitmanesque beard."

Overall, I have enjoyed this book as much as any book of poems I have read in a while. To may say it demands a wider reading goes without saying.

[Susannah Colt · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something very honest and open, nothing closeted or discrete, about Darla Himeles’ poetry. From traumatic childhood to glorious conception, she spares no detail weaving images and feelings together seamlessly. Himeles brings new meaning to confessional poetry and we are the lucky beneficiaries.

I am also lucky to know Darla, having met her thanks to our mutual connection to Maxine Kumin. I can hear Maxine’s voice in Darla’s poetry, someone Darla credits for helping her dive deep into poetry.

Himeles tackles difficult subjects like the strife of world events, of Syrian babies’ sacrificed, the plight of migrant laborers, homelessness, and violence against women. But then she brings us back to a sense of hope for the future, especially in her beautiful poems for Evelyn, to which she and her partner “cleave,” in the biblical sense, to loyally and unwaveringly.

[Darren Himeles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very special book of poetry. The author demonstrates incredible mastery of the language while inspiring a variety of emotions in the reader: pain, pleasure, sadness, and love. I would recommend this book for pleasure, self-reflection, literary analysis, and even therapy.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to take my time to read this lovely book of poetry. Each poem deserves a careful read and re-read to allow the language to settle in and the words to surprise and delight. Darla Himeles covers a great deal of territory in this book from childhood memories of domestic violence to her relationship with her wife and their struggles to conceive a child. Hope is a constant theme here even through the horrors she describes so vividly. The struggles with a violent parent that still lead to love, the fears for a country's political future still lead to conception; Himeles finds beauty in circumstances and events that also carry pain and fear. It is a collection of poems that embrace the wholeness of our experience with an honesty that I admire deeply.