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Tree
Tree is a collection of poetry that explores what it means to be in community, in faith, and in love. This is SJ Blasko's third independent release, and follows the story of her previous collection (the flowers need love to grow too) as the themes of the poems shift towards learning how to love and let oneself be loved.
- GenresPoetry
79 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2021
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About the author
S.J. Blasko
22 books45 followersSJ Blasko is a poet and fantasy writer from Massachusetts, USA. As an LGBTQ Christian, much of their work revolves around the intersection of faith, love, and identity. They have a deep appreciation for "weird" fiction, and love getting lost in worlds that are not our own.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 1, 2025
Read Through 2: I cannot begin to explain how much that I love this book. Still in my top five poetry collections I've ever read, honestly.
Read Through 1: Phenomenal, heart-felt, satisfying poetry. Every time I read something by this author, I'm reminded of the importance of poetry to the human heart and the human psyche. There are layers and hopes to Blasko's collection that touch on so many beautiful, personal things. Blasko writes beyond simple beautiful imagery and sinks into the reality of what it means to be human in our world.
Read Through 1: Phenomenal, heart-felt, satisfying poetry. Every time I read something by this author, I'm reminded of the importance of poetry to the human heart and the human psyche. There are layers and hopes to Blasko's collection that touch on so many beautiful, personal things. Blasko writes beyond simple beautiful imagery and sinks into the reality of what it means to be human in our world.
April 17, 2021
4-4.5 stars!
I am so torn with my feelings for this book. On one hand, it’s filled with amazing poetry. Blasko has a beautiful writing voice that is put to good use with personal experiences and a creative mind. It sets out clear visions and allows the reader to enter into the mind of the person writing it. On the other hand, personal poetry terrifies me. It bares the soul and reveals basically everything that the author is willing to share. This is the author opening up and showing some deeply personal things and I really respect that. As far as the poetry goes, I can’t complain and I think that people who enjoy poetry as much as I do will love this collection.
I am so torn with my feelings for this book. On one hand, it’s filled with amazing poetry. Blasko has a beautiful writing voice that is put to good use with personal experiences and a creative mind. It sets out clear visions and allows the reader to enter into the mind of the person writing it. On the other hand, personal poetry terrifies me. It bares the soul and reveals basically everything that the author is willing to share. This is the author opening up and showing some deeply personal things and I really respect that. As far as the poetry goes, I can’t complain and I think that people who enjoy poetry as much as I do will love this collection.
February 4, 2022
To be honest, I was on the fence initially about accepting this book. It’s been so long since I’ve really read and enjoyed poetry, after all. Longer still since I wrote any of my own and that was when I was really into reading it. Something in me told me to give it a chance when I read the description. I’m glad I did.
There’s nothing for me to go over as far as the technical workings that I usually talk about in my reviews, so this is a little different for me. I’ll focus on the emotions that sprung to life.
“Stars” was my favorite. The raw emotions and what it’s like dealing with them really hit home for me. I don’t deal with my emotions well, and this kind of made me feel like I was not alone in that. Anxiety is definitely one of my “hissing, spitting creatures” and I loved the personification of these feelings.
Each poem brought some new feeling and I found myself almost reading them aloud. Almost. I was definitely “getting into” it.
I really enjoyed the growth and knowledge of the narrator as their sexuality was first repressed then set free as detailed in “Eleutheromania.”
“Out of the Woods” was powerful and proof that you don’t need all the words for something to truly resonate with someone.
Overall, I highly recommend this collection. Actually, I did recommend this collection. Someone near and dear to me has been needing courage to live their true life, and I felt this collection of poetry would help them find that. Thank you, SJ Blasko. You truly are a phenomenal storyteller.
There’s nothing for me to go over as far as the technical workings that I usually talk about in my reviews, so this is a little different for me. I’ll focus on the emotions that sprung to life.
“Stars” was my favorite. The raw emotions and what it’s like dealing with them really hit home for me. I don’t deal with my emotions well, and this kind of made me feel like I was not alone in that. Anxiety is definitely one of my “hissing, spitting creatures” and I loved the personification of these feelings.
Each poem brought some new feeling and I found myself almost reading them aloud. Almost. I was definitely “getting into” it.
I really enjoyed the growth and knowledge of the narrator as their sexuality was first repressed then set free as detailed in “Eleutheromania.”
“Out of the Woods” was powerful and proof that you don’t need all the words for something to truly resonate with someone.
Overall, I highly recommend this collection. Actually, I did recommend this collection. Someone near and dear to me has been needing courage to live their true life, and I felt this collection of poetry would help them find that. Thank you, SJ Blasko. You truly are a phenomenal storyteller.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2024
I have always found it hard to review poetry, because how can you assign a star grade to shards of someone’s soul?
Trees is a magnificent depiction of what a beautiful soul ripped open looks like.
Sometimes you come across those special little stories that tear your heart in half an simultaneously piece you back together.
The poems encased in this collection will leave you breathless. In the words of the author themself- “Here’s a book that might be about you.”
Trees is a magnificent depiction of what a beautiful soul ripped open looks like.
Sometimes you come across those special little stories that tear your heart in half an simultaneously piece you back together.
The poems encased in this collection will leave you breathless. In the words of the author themself- “Here’s a book that might be about you.”
September 12, 2021
4.5 / 5 Stars
I was pretty excited to read this collection. I usually try to not hype something up too much, out of fear, that it will dissapoint me in the end. But this time arround, I was - in fact -not dissapointed.
I'm a huge fan of the way Blasko writes her poems. It's not just that they flow just right. It's the way every word in each poem just feels like the only word that could have been used. Any other word would have ruined it. I don't know how to describe this feeing to you. I just always fangirl over the pure skill this author has. A skill, that I felt like, was shining even brighter in this one. I'm going even so far, as to say, that this might be their best work. I don't have to like every poem on a personal level. I can still admire the craftmanship though. And since that was what I was doing and since some others were like, really amazing, I decided to give this collection 5 stars.
I'm looking forward to read more books from this author!
I was pretty excited to read this collection. I usually try to not hype something up too much, out of fear, that it will dissapoint me in the end. But this time arround, I was - in fact -not dissapointed.
I'm a huge fan of the way Blasko writes her poems. It's not just that they flow just right. It's the way every word in each poem just feels like the only word that could have been used. Any other word would have ruined it. I don't know how to describe this feeing to you. I just always fangirl over the pure skill this author has. A skill, that I felt like, was shining even brighter in this one. I'm going even so far, as to say, that this might be their best work. I don't have to like every poem on a personal level. I can still admire the craftmanship though. And since that was what I was doing and since some others were like, really amazing, I decided to give this collection 5 stars.
I'm looking forward to read more books from this author!
February 17, 2022
‘Tree’ is a refreshing collection of poetry that I thoroughly enjoyed, exploring themes of gender identity, love, nature, and self discovery to name a few! S.J. Blasko writes with such fluidity that made for pleasant reading, as well as raw emotion that often resonated with me.
Throughout the collection, there was a plethora of delicious imagery that came full circle from the beginning to the end, the kind of descriptive vocabulary that you want to sink your teeth into. Or maybe that's just me, haha!
'out of the woods' was one of the standouts for me. I too want to know what my voice sounds like at full power! Such a concise capture of words that explore how it might feel to gather your courage and raise your voice.
And, lastly, perhaps my favourite line was "I feel stuffed full of hard words, edges tearing at my insides". Simply beautiful, putting words to a feeling that I too felt, but couldn't find the words to describe.
Throughout the collection, there was a plethora of delicious imagery that came full circle from the beginning to the end, the kind of descriptive vocabulary that you want to sink your teeth into. Or maybe that's just me, haha!
'out of the woods' was one of the standouts for me. I too want to know what my voice sounds like at full power! Such a concise capture of words that explore how it might feel to gather your courage and raise your voice.
And, lastly, perhaps my favourite line was "I feel stuffed full of hard words, edges tearing at my insides". Simply beautiful, putting words to a feeling that I too felt, but couldn't find the words to describe.
May 28, 2021
Tender, yearning, needy poetry about queer love, faith, nature, and weathering the judgement of others.
I particularly liked "its name was phoenix" and "my God who tends a garden".
I particularly liked "its name was phoenix" and "my God who tends a garden".
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews