Dream of the Divided Field: Poems

by Yanyi .

From an award-winning poet comes a collection on heartbreak and transitions, written with a piercing lyric ferocity. 

FINALIST FOR THE NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY • “Written with great tenderness and intimacy, Dream of the Divided Field reveals what we do (and do not) owe to others, and what we owe to ourselves.”— Poets & Writers

The poems in Yanyi’s latest book suggest that we enter and exit our old selves like homes. We look through the windows and recognize some former aspect of our lives that is both ours and not ours. We long for what we had even as we recognize that we can no longer live there. Yanyi conjures the beloved both within and without us: the beloved we believe we know, the beloved who is never the person we imagine, and the beloved who threatens to erase us even as we stand before them. 

How can we carry our homes with us? Informed by Yanyi’s experiences of immigration, violent heartbreak, and a bodily transition, Dream of the Divided Field explores the contradictions that accompany shifts from one state of being to another. In tender, serene, and ethereal poems, Dream of the Divided Field examines a body breaking down and a body that rebuilds in limitless and boundary-shifting ways. These are homes in memory—homes of love and isolation, lust and alienation, tenderness and violence, suffering and wonder. 

Genres: Poetry, Queer, LGBT, Aapi, Asian Literature, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2022

About the author

Yanyi is the author of Dream of the Divided Field (One World) and The Year of Blue Water (Yale University Press 2019), winner of the 2018 Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize. His work has been featured in or at NPR’s All Things Considered, New York Public Library, Granta, and New England Review, and he is the recipient of fellowships from Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Poets House. He holds an MFA in Poetry from New York University and was most recently poetry editor at Foundry. Currently, he teaches creative writing at large and gives writing advice at The Reading.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘There are no walls between the living and the dead:
Only what you remember now and what you remember ahead.’

Dream of the Divided Field from Yanyi is a collection of naked vulnerability and beauty smoldering in the rubble of relationships, inward gazes at self-transformations and love that spreads out like a landscape to be explored. Transition is central to many of these poems and Yanyi, a trans man, chronicles change with heartbreaking yet empowering clarity. There is a surreal quality to these poems, with lives slipping into swirling metaphors and a disarming feeling of weightlessness even amidst poems pinned down by heavy emotion. Perhaps it is because Yanyi can adjust the mundane into a quiet explosion of emotions with a succinctness of prose. I’ve been dazzled for days now. Here’s one I’ve returned to again and again, sending screenshots to friends each time I step back into these words:
Once

I admit it.
That we were alive
at once
the same time.

That we were connected
to each other.
And two minds

move me
as this life
becomes a story.

We were alive,
we were free,

choosing the hour
within a moment's

bright precision.
There is still that hour

without a future or a face.
I am the hour. I am the place.

This poem captures many of the prevailing themes found within Dream of the Divided Field, such as the way examinations of memory become a collision of past, present and future or ‘the past and the present / overcoming one another.’ It creates a unique space for self-examination. ‘The dream is, also, neither the future nor the past,’ Yanyi writes in the titular poem, ‘but a perception of the world through me…’ The body is central to many of these poems, often opening up like a landscape such as in one of my favorite poems Landscape with a Hundred Turns (read it here) that use the metaphor as insight to how a person can contain multitudes. But the body is also a place of transition, of translation (‘to admit / I was the original’) and memory. ‘[B]odies may be monuments, side by side, / enacting what is already a memory,’ he writes in In the Museum, a poem that uses blank space within lines to show the gaps in time as well as the leaps of faith we must make into the future.

‘I want to be beautiful
And a part of this earth.’

Yanyi can break your heart with lines as simple as ‘It is a year before we separated. / You were my friend’ closing out a poem. Yet there is an incredible warmth and earnestness to these poems nonetheless. Many deal with difficult topics, such as familial struggles and trans acceptance. ‘I was born a girl and I was born a boy,’ Yanyi writes in one of many instances that probe fluidity. However, we see how transition can be difficult and how the ones you love can hurt you the most. Take the following poem for instance:


Once, you dove
through ice
to prove
what you’d do
for your family.

What would I do
for my family?

What I ask from disappearance
is that I don’t have to do it again.

There is this feeling that being oneself, being his true self, is a rejection of family, of not diving through a metaphorical ice to save someone. Which is tragic, as all he wants is to not disappear, to be himself as he is, on his terms. These poems are rife with examinations of disappearance, such as relationships dissolving into the past and defined now by their absence such as when he writes ‘the bathroom noticed / what else was missing.’ These poems pull the heartstrings, but as much as they can break you they will build you up stronger. For every line that shakes you up such as ‘And I have to live with my love / it is almost more painful than the pain itself, ’ it is balanced with the joy of lines like ‘I woke up with so much love for you / It doesn’t matter where I am.’ Ultimately, it is love that flows into us through this collection.

‘As a man, I've learned something of nationhood:
the shape of a brook now straddled by a dam, or choked by it.’

Yanyi constructs surreal and powerful poems out of precise prose and poignant emotions. These were a treat to read, ones that seemed deceptively simple yet opened up more each reread. At times it seems almost too elusive, but it still connected for me. A great collection to keep by your side awhile, this has been a lovely companion the past two weeks and I am thankful for the beauty of Yanyi’s words.

4/5

‘When you turned into a hundred rooms,
I returned each month as a door
That opened only one.’

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The strategy with most poetry books is best foot forward with strong poems, but this collection seemed stronger at the end than the start. Here are two short ones for a sampling:


I Had a Vision of a Hill

and a love with read and brown
hair.. The hair being part of mine or
theirs. The hill being no one's.

Marriage is not knowing who
will own the land, or ever.
I had a vision of a hill.


Aubade

I woke up with so much love for you
It doesn't matter where I am

I am making eggs

The sun is warming my just-shaved head
like your hand when sometimes
it rests there

[Vivek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked some of these poems, especially the ones about transition, immigration, and being subjected to interpersonal violence from loved ones. Picked this up on a whim while at the bookstore looking for something else and was not disappointed.

Over the past year I have been struck by how much literature about transition has resonated with me. It’s a magical feeling to read someone share something about the way they experience the world and then have it make sense of things I didn’t notice or understand before; like experiencing a new color for the first time.

[naviya]

- there are so many great ending lines! so many good one liners!
- "As a man, I've learned something of nationhood: // the shape of a brook now straddled by a dam, or choked by it." BANGER LINE
- "What I ask from disappearance // is that I don't have to do it again." ಥ‿ಥ
- hrmm, i have a very strong inclination for imagistic poems and super grounded images, so this felt a lil abstract and,,,loose sometimes? i wanted more meaning, more things to grip

- some of my favorite poems: coming over, landscape with a hundred turns, tenants, reconstruction, eurydice at the mouth

[Claire Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am so grateful for yanyi’s writing. while at times in the beginning of this collection, i felt more disconnected or some poems felt as if they would live better as essay, i am giving this collection 5 stars because the last 2 sections touched me in a way i have rarely been touched before. “Once” made me cry like a baby, and i felt as if i had been born anew, given license to freely bound once again into this world, into love, despite all disappointments and pain.

“I admit it. / That we were alive at once / the same time.

That we were connected to each other. / And two minds

move me / as this life / becomes a story.

We were alive, / we were free,

choosing the hour / within a moment’s

bright precision. / There is still that hour /

without a future or a face. /

I am the hour. I am the place.”

[pizza boy]

לא דירגתי, כי הוא אומן צעיר ומרגיש. יצא לי אפילו לדבר איתו באינסטגרם. היו פה הרבה מאוד חלקים מעניינים. חלקים כןאבים. בסך הכל די ממליץ, אבל מרגיש שקשה לי עם poetry באנגלית. משהו בכך שאני לא דובר שפת אם פוגע לי בקריאה שלהם.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a way in which the end of a serious relationship can shake your entire concept of yourself, and through your grief you have to find yourself again. I feel both the loss and the search here. Then the way that Yanyi braids poems about heartbreak and implied emotional violence with poems about transition and immigration is fascinating, too. Each has a similar but distinct sense of a loss of self, a search for self, a yearning for connection and belonging, a sometimes violent disconnection—to a partner, to a place or culture, to oneself and one’s own body.

There were so many lines that made me stop and have to breathe but the one that keeps ringing in my ears is this:

“It is a year before we separated.
You were my friend.”

I think I needed these poems right now.

[Jessica Haider · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st poetry read of National Poetry Month!

small thoughtful collection of poems about immigration, transition, and emotional turmoil.

[nini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dream of the Divided Field is a beautiful collection of poetry that mainly deals with queerness (especially the author’s transition) and grief (in all of its nuances). Each poem is imbued with unreal, abstract imageries, which, once combined, give the collection a surrealist air; the scattered nature of this writing style also delivers some gut-punching one liners (I still can’t believe he described the process of scars healing as “The body is greedy with itself” and expected me to move on) that exist by themselves and hence can only be parsed with the aid of the receiver’s own analysis. The fundamental topics, thus, are all explored in unorthodox ways that feel exclusive to the author’s private experiences—something that, despite the many glimpses, we are never privy to—and its this estrangement from the text that pushes the readers to explore their own subconscious.

Out of the entire collection “Ambulance! Ambulance” is what truly stood out to me and, in my opinion, is the outstanding piece of this work for it showcased Yanyi’s stylistic goal the best. Here’s a snippet from it:

“And when Love came calling there
were strawberries in the rose bouquet. I hid
behind a tree standing straight as possible
and stared at its back prancing on the crosswalk.
I wanted to be worth Love’s time but I was not
ready. There I was before Love gluing shards
of broken windows into a chandelier;”

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dream of the Divided Field was an incredibly solid poetry book. There were some truly stunning poems in this collection and a few that fell a little flat, but that's par for the course in this genre.

[Dinah Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

.

“There are no walls between the living and the dead: // only what you remember and what you remember ahead.”

“What I ask from disappearance// is that I don’t have to do it again.”

“move me // as this life // becomes a story. // We we’re alive, // we were free, // choosing the hour // within a moment’s // bright precision.// There is still that hour // without a future or a face. // I am the hour. I am the place.”

I really liked this collection. I picked it up on a whim from a local bookshop and was really moved by what I found . Many of the poems are about transitioning, immigration, and being subjected to interpersonal violence from loved ones.

Each of these poems has a similar but distinct sense of loss of self, a search for self, a yearning for connection and belonging, a sometimes volatile disconnection with a partner/place/culture/one’s self/ and one’s body.
.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

So vulnerable and so raw. Some poems were truly heart wrenching and some of them hit in very personal ways.

"[...]When I touched
your face, it was a shadow,
for I even imagined
the darkness we received
at night, your nightly fear
of disappearing a shadow’s
fear of disappearing, too,
and I assured you, we were not,
for I imagined both, the fear
and the disappearance,
warm light in the kitchen
not a coat hook, not shoes,
not keys,
not wanting to leave.
And where you have gone,
are there hours
where I disappeared, too?
Yes, I imagined us
laughing. I was not a man,
but a blackbird cawing
before departure,
the train getting darker,
an antic twilight going farther
than the dark-imagined sky
imagining heat, imagining ardor,
imagining so much wanting
to be moved by love."

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a 3.75/5.

I think the central theme of transition was really wonderfully explored, especially in relation to the body. However, I did feel that a lot of these poems were a bit too sparse for my taste, and I found myself wanting a little more than what was given.

Some favorites: “Taking Care,” “Leaving the House,” “Eurydice at the Mouth,” “Home for the Holidays” (in Part IV), “Ambulance! Ambulance!,” “Lengthening, Rites,” “The End of Another Year,” and “Aubade”

[Leah Rachel von Essen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dream of the Divided Field is a lovely collection of poignant poetry by Yanyi about transition—about trans-ness, about a love who leaves, about an abusive relationship and how the memory returns to it, about family and fraught relationships.

Some poems in particular were gorgeous—"Landscape with a Hundred Turns," "Flight," "The Friend," these poems about making space, about love and how sometimes you must make your own space within it or outside of it, about occupancy and detachment. About losing someone you loved, about the uncertainty of knowing that you can't truly know what happened, that you only know what happened to you. A tender collection of poetry.

CW domestic abuse, gender dysphoria, emotional abuse.

[Mike Reiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tender and expansive, intellectual and precise. Yanyi’s prose poems are chilling in their effect.

Takes a little while to get going, some of the earlier poems are not as strong, but overall this is an excellent poetry collection.

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

checking in to see if i like poetry yet and the verdict is… ask me again later.

the collection had a bit of a rocky start, but a more memorable ending. favorites included “eurydice at the mouth,” “spring of cups,” and “the end of another year”

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

i thought this collection started off pretty weak, but as a whole i liked the parts that explored transition and how it affects how your relationship with your family, loved ones, and yourself.
i did like a few of the poems, the cliff, eurydice at the mouth, detail, and spring of cups

[Luba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yanyi is back at it again 😭 😭

[Jessica Dai · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!!

[julie | eggmama]

Favorites:
- family tree
- flight
- eurydice at the mouth

i gravitate towards more image-based poems, so not entirely sure how i felt about this collection!

[Sol]

this is beautiful

[Dea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been Yanyi's newsletter's BIGGEST FAN for as long I could remember and if I had to choose between his letters and the poems in this book, I think I'd still choose the letters. That's not to say that this collection isn't beautiful—it's just more painful than the letters are heartwarming. In this collection, we learn about his transition and all the little things that come with it, like the rift with his parents, the heartbreaks, etc. The kind of collection I'm thankful for because the poet had chosen to share it with us.

[Emily Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was pretty disappointed by this collection, after loving the year of blue water. the final section was the strongest. my main critique is that many of the poems felt too opaque, especially the break up poems. there were few details and a lot of generalized emotions. i wanted to love this, but sadly i did not.

[Miguel Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Love,/ I was young when I died to my family––

This book of poems is a beautiful, dreamlike collection of poems by Yanyi. The brief moments of his previous collection, The Year of Blue Water, where poetry appears as lyric is only in full bloom here. Can't wait to re-read.

[Nav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection takes some time to hit its stride. Some of it is so personal as to be awkward/uncomfortable to read as it seems to illuminate the author rather than an individual experience casting illumination on some larger collective experience.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Dream of the Divided Field” was my first poetry collection, and I have to admit I couldn’t grasp everything fully.

Still, I’m eager to learn more about the trans experience, so I know I’ll return to it after reading more poetry. Also looking forward to discovering new layers when I do.

[Georgia]

resuming a project to read more poetry, this collection was difficult for me- a little more opaque than some of the past collections i've read, the most time I've spent looking up words in a long while! lots of archaic vocab! mildly rewarding to be challenged so much by a book, it really forced me to sit, reread, explore in a different medium by switching between the audiobook and text, look up interviews and really put my full attention into something.

all that said, i actually still don't think i really liked most of these! it did pick up a lot in parts iv and v, it was interesting to see how some poems could simultaneously be about a breakup or about a transition. overall i didn't find most of the poems moving or emotional, but they definitely were thought provoking. highlights were, ambulance! ambulance!, lengthening, rites.,

reviews/interviews that were helpful to me: https://viewlesswings.com/2022/09/27/...
https://soapberryreview.com/?p=565

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dream of the Divided Field is lyrical, tender, searing, and beautiful. "Ambulance! Ambulance!" was a standout poem for me. In it Yanyi describes a litany of love, finding meaning in between moments, incanting experiences deeply personal and relatable. Yanyi's entire collection does this beautifully, relating his own personal experiences of heartbreak and discovery, laying bare deep wells of emotion and vulnerability. I loved his first collection, The Year of Blue Water, and while this collection as a whole felt more abstracted to me (less the prose poem style of the first book), the recurring themes of identity, loss, and an emotional processing are still present here. I highlighted phrases as I read, savoring the construction of words here. I want to reread this slowly and in print once it is out in the world!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dreamy yet down-to-earth collection. I thought I was numb to poetry but I am moved.

The dream is long and I have already forgotten.
We look to sit near the water but the water rushes over the seats.
Dream you sneers at me, saying
why would anyone want to be with someone
who couldn't say enough of the right things.
Of course, there is no such thing as enough. Of course,
there is no water. There are words that,
if I say them in the right tones and sounds,
will be sufficient for this to quiet down.
Dream me trying to pull together
the perfect words.

What were those days? Gilded and bare, laughing on a street corner with Anthony. With Kate at tea; with Kate and her poem about lemons, about breath and shucked skin. Those days when I stank of sun and lilacs. Those days of candlelit reading, drinking too much, thinking in my stupor I could write. In the mornings, rather, the poems were there. They didn't need to be written.

Crying.

[Novi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

i loved his collection the year of blue water way more than this collection and i couldn't help but compare the 2 works. i like how when you read multiple works by an author you can see the themes that they are drawn to. yanyi continues to write about experiencing 2 lives in 1 body/multiple or split bodies/feeling lost in one's new body and finding oneself back in their old body etc. I like this kind of continuity of subject topic as well as it is a topic i am really drawn to thinking about. this collection features some poems surrounding heartbreak which all nearly made it into my fav poems of this work.
tldr: always wanting to read more chinese trans poets.

Poems I liked:
- Dream in Which I try to Disappear in Front of My Aunt, or, Interrogation
- Listening to Teresa Teng
- Flight
- Catullus 85
- The Cliff
- Spring of Cups