A Shiver in the Leaves

by Luther Hughes

Nestled against the backdrop of Seattle's flora, fauna, and cityscape, Luther Hughes' debut poetry collection wrestles with the interior and exterior symbiosis of a gay Black man finding refuge from the threat of depression and death through love and desire. Hughes draws readers into a Seattle that is heavily entrenched in violent anti-Blackness, and full of vulnerable and personal encounters from both the speaker’s past and present. With reverent and careful imagery, Hughes fashions deeply saturated, tender vignettes that reckon relationships between family and friends, lovers, nature, and the police-state. A Shiver in the Leaves is stunningly cinematic in its layered portrayal of the never-ending dualities of a queer Black poet’s life in the city. Hughes's interrogation of selfhood renders a sharply intimate and viscerally powerful reimagining of what it means to be alive in a body, and what it can mean to live .

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

80 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this collection was gorgeous and tender and vulnerable and searching for answers in the best ways. It also made me feel like a mother hen. I’m approximately 25 years older than the poet (they graduated college in 2016 and I graduated college in 1990 so…) and man there were times when I just felt so protective and scared (for them). “A boy said what to you? NOPE!!! RUN AWAY!”
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These are poems about being Black (and being Black in America and being Black in this America of white cops constantly murdering Blacks), being gay, being a son, being an observer, being touched by grief and pain and loss and also, occasionally, by joy, by calm, by the beauty of Seattle in the summer, or the beauty of someone’s shoulder blades while they make the bed. These are poems of risk taking by choice and risks forced by chance. These are poems of reconciling the push versus the pull—“I believe a thing can be both restless and at rest.”
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And ALSO, bonus, there’s an amazing foreword by Carl Phillips that I reread each time I read the collection, over and over again this past week.
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I’d recommend this for fans of Jericho Brown (another poet contemplating the intersection of being Black and gay), fans of Emily Skaja (another risk-taking poet who made me feel protective), fans of Courtney Faye Taylor (another poet haunted by the loss of Black lives), and Saeed Jones (another poet exploring his deep love and deep worry for his mother).

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely will have to read this one more than once. There is something breathtaking about the way these poems hold death and sex and violence and beauty together so tenderly.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry is often personal in its admiration and in its content. Sometimes it is helpful to understand where and who the poet is and other times, it can be a hindrance. I think I would have enjoyed this book better if it wasn't labeled as African American and Black/LGBTQ+.

The poems stand by themselves and don't require another lens. Maybe if this wasn't part of a reading adventure for African Liberation Month, I would have appreciated the messages more. This became more of a Listen! book rather than sitting with a friend and hearing what they were saying.

Some of these poems are erotic and some have a touch of sleaze. I would enjoy them more if I wasn't looking for the poet to say something about queerness rather than just the poet being queer. I wish I come to the poet, not because they were black or queer but because they had something human to say.

They do. There are some good lines and images here. It is a walk in the forest spoiled by being told to watch for the bird. Too much time is spent looking for the ravens rather than enjoying the walk.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tender collection, with each page as though flesh extracted. The themes of crows and rains and flora to tackle what it is to be Black in America creates a different kind of softness and vulnerability in each line.

I read this book in one sitting, drank it up as if I had a straw. A Shiver in the Leaves belongs in everyone’s collection.

[Dora Prieto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this book. Such attention to language, mystery, and a deep deep well of love. Foreword by Carl Phillips was perfect—I see the lineage and exploration of Blackness in poetry, in all the infinite possibility. <3

[David Anthony Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal, sensual, passionate, violent, compassionate, angry, loving, blunt, eloquent poetry

[Jachin Heckman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad. I liked some. Others not so much.

[Cody Stetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luther is such a genius, and these poems are tender, vulnerable, and brilliant.

[Jacqueline Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Shiver in the Leaves contains so many masterful, flowing lines. While I typically enjoy shorter stanzas in poetry, the long lines and block stanzas were beautiful in this collection.