What do you think?
Rate this book
Here I Am Burn Me
In this stunningly tender poetry collection, Kimberly Nguyen’s lone voice reaches out into the void, extending an invitation to become part of her orbit. Time is an entanglement in Nguyen’s poetic galaxy. Past traumas snag the fabric of space and time, twisting the past and present together until they are undistinguishable from one another. Vivid and striking, Nguyen’s voice is sharp and precise, a needle that pinpoints time’s pulled threads and pulls them back through. Poem after poem, line after line, Nguyen expertly un-entangles the past and present, healing the space-time continuum and thus opens the possibility of a future free from its past wounds.
Nothing escapes Nguyen’s orbit unscathed. She dissects everything that passes by her and holds them to the light before setting them free. Nguyen confronts intergenerational trauma, a broken family, and her own heartbreak head-on, and she dives in again and again looking for and creating love amidst all the chaos. These poems hope. These poems yearn. These poems call out into the void aching to reach someone, anyone, to let them know, if they are out there, they are not alone here.
Nothing escapes Nguyen’s orbit unscathed. She dissects everything that passes by her and holds them to the light before setting them free. Nguyen confronts intergenerational trauma, a broken family, and her own heartbreak head-on, and she dives in again and again looking for and creating love amidst all the chaos. These poems hope. These poems yearn. These poems call out into the void aching to reach someone, anyone, to let them know, if they are out there, they are not alone here.
- GenresPoetry
100 pages, Paperback
First published October 17, 2022
2 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Kimberly Nguyen
11 books38 followersKimberly Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American poet, originally from Omaha, Nebraska but is now living in New York City. She is recent graduate of Vassar College, where she studied English and Russian Studies and was a recipient of a Beatrice Daw Brown Prize for Poetry in 2019. She was a 2021 Emerging Voices Fellow at PEN America and is currently a 2022-2023 Poetry Coalition Fellow. Her poetry has been featured in diaCRITICS, Hobart, Muzzle Magazine, The Minnesota Review, perhappened mag, and others. Her poetry collection, ghosts in the stalks, was a #3 bestseller on Amazon in Asian-American poetry.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 4, 2022
I was able to get an advanced copy of Here I Am Burn Me and loved it. I am not much of a poetry reader so forgive any naivety.
I felt the space theme that ran throughout the book was incredible and very well done. The form chosen for each poem alone was interesting and each form felt thematic in its own right. Reoccurring forms gave a sense of familiarity yet further inched the overall theme forward.
From start to finish this was a hard to put down book. Kimberly's relationship with her family and the struggles associated with those relationships, along with her journey as a human being made for an interesting and engaging read.
As a non-Vietnamese speaker the peppering of Vietnamese made of a unique read and a great expression of Kimberly's culture. The word play between english and Vietnamese was clever.
This reads as both an a vulnerable and detailed look into Kimberly's life. I would highly recommend the read.
I felt the space theme that ran throughout the book was incredible and very well done. The form chosen for each poem alone was interesting and each form felt thematic in its own right. Reoccurring forms gave a sense of familiarity yet further inched the overall theme forward.
From start to finish this was a hard to put down book. Kimberly's relationship with her family and the struggles associated with those relationships, along with her journey as a human being made for an interesting and engaging read.
As a non-Vietnamese speaker the peppering of Vietnamese made of a unique read and a great expression of Kimberly's culture. The word play between english and Vietnamese was clever.
This reads as both an a vulnerable and detailed look into Kimberly's life. I would highly recommend the read.
November 11, 2022
This collection by Nguyen tells of the poet’s life growing up as a child of two Vietnamese immigrants and how she has come to terms with her flawed relationship with her parents. Some of the topics mentioned may be triggering to some, lightly touching on self harm, depression, and abuse. Nguyen manages to transform these, rather ugly, subjects to create a beautifully written collection.
March 23, 2023
As an Asian-American, this book felt like the listening hand I have been waiting for my whole life. Kimberly’s words are everything that have been trying to escape my mouth, but never had the bravery to. This book is a must read for anyone experiencing generational trauma, grief, heartbreak, and every other emotion than encompasses the human experience. Thank you Kimberly for your voice. It has helped me find mine as well.
March 21, 2023
a gorgeous poetry collection that I've already returned to again and again! it's been a pleasure to read kimberly's works over the years and this is no exception—I've loved sharing these poems with the people in my life!
April 22, 2023
"Here I Am Burn Me" is a culmination of Kimberly's experiences tied to a space-time continuum that is made relatable for anyone who has had similar experiences and for those who have not. She does an amazing job with the space theme throughout this poignant poetry book that clearly eloquates through underlying meanings of what she has gone through and what she does not wish for her future children. Although many books by upcoming Asian-American writers focus on the typical stereotypes around being Asian/Asian-American, Nguyen addresses these stereotypes head-on, and rips through the continuum to take back her identity to make herself a myth and a legend (this is echoed through the imagery as well). Truly inspiring, Nguyen has a true gift of putting her experiences onto the page that served as the bed for my tears while reading this. I will be keeping this book forever, and passing it onto my children in hopes that one day they will read this and be a stranger to the shared experiences that Nguyen and I suffered and changed from while growing up.
June 28, 2023
”war you are
the shard of colored glass
that turns the whole room orange.
i scrub at the orange
i dig through your aftermath
i destroy whole houses looking
for anything you haven’t touched
and then the glass breaks
and my fingerprints are all over the wreckage.”
The way this collection of beautiful poems weaves a story rife with pain, anguish, generational trauma, grief, forgiveness, and perseverance is a testament to Kimberly Nguyen’s artistry.
In a stunning show of vulnerability and sincerity, the author illustrates a story that many can relate to. Doubly so for those of us with immigrant parents or even grandparents, in my case.
This book hit hard because it hit home. It doesn’t hold back. It is refreshingly honest. It’s so incredibly striking because it is so *human.* A story so real that many of us do not have to go far to imagine it, family nationality be damned.
This book explores the themes of family. What it means to be a child of those that came before. What does it mean to be indebted to those that gave you life? Are you indebted to them? Because with life, they gave you other things as well. Advantages and disadvantages. Baggage and hurdles. Maybe love, maybe hate. Probably both. And to finally pursue the life you want, to finally treat yourself with the respect you deserve, do you have to leave that all behind? These poems examine all of that as objectively as one can when reflecting on past experiences, and the extraordinary observations made are worth reading for alone, in my opinion.
Should you decide to pick up this book, I hope you’ll understand what I mean. I couldn’t possibly explain it all better than Nguyen’s words themselves. Each poem is presented exactly as it needs to be, and there’s beauty in that itself.
In short, I couldn’t recommend this enough. If you have twenty dollars to spare, it’s well worth it. Buy it, read it. Read it again for god sakes. It’s well worth your time, too.
the shard of colored glass
that turns the whole room orange.
i scrub at the orange
i dig through your aftermath
i destroy whole houses looking
for anything you haven’t touched
and then the glass breaks
and my fingerprints are all over the wreckage.”
The way this collection of beautiful poems weaves a story rife with pain, anguish, generational trauma, grief, forgiveness, and perseverance is a testament to Kimberly Nguyen’s artistry.
In a stunning show of vulnerability and sincerity, the author illustrates a story that many can relate to. Doubly so for those of us with immigrant parents or even grandparents, in my case.
This book hit hard because it hit home. It doesn’t hold back. It is refreshingly honest. It’s so incredibly striking because it is so *human.* A story so real that many of us do not have to go far to imagine it, family nationality be damned.
This book explores the themes of family. What it means to be a child of those that came before. What does it mean to be indebted to those that gave you life? Are you indebted to them? Because with life, they gave you other things as well. Advantages and disadvantages. Baggage and hurdles. Maybe love, maybe hate. Probably both. And to finally pursue the life you want, to finally treat yourself with the respect you deserve, do you have to leave that all behind? These poems examine all of that as objectively as one can when reflecting on past experiences, and the extraordinary observations made are worth reading for alone, in my opinion.
Should you decide to pick up this book, I hope you’ll understand what I mean. I couldn’t possibly explain it all better than Nguyen’s words themselves. Each poem is presented exactly as it needs to be, and there’s beauty in that itself.
In short, I couldn’t recommend this enough. If you have twenty dollars to spare, it’s well worth it. Buy it, read it. Read it again for god sakes. It’s well worth your time, too.
September 7, 2023
A collection of poetry about identity, trauma, survival, being an eldest daughter and immigrant.
from Let Me Begin By Washing My Hands: "i never once wrote a single word our to spite; / i wrote a path out of the darkness. i'm sorry to everyone / my path cut through, but I named every place i ran into. / every poem i've ever written was not made; it was / already there, and this is the way the universe was / built."
from A Vietnamese Coming-Home Greeting: "i am a daughter which means i was born writing / poems out of absence."
from Explaining Depression to My Family: "my mother tongue is a lover letter / with the text half redacted, / an erasure / i am rearranging / to lure out of reach language / into my grasp."
from Let Me Begin By Washing My Hands: "i never once wrote a single word our to spite; / i wrote a path out of the darkness. i'm sorry to everyone / my path cut through, but I named every place i ran into. / every poem i've ever written was not made; it was / already there, and this is the way the universe was / built."
from A Vietnamese Coming-Home Greeting: "i am a daughter which means i was born writing / poems out of absence."
from Explaining Depression to My Family: "my mother tongue is a lover letter / with the text half redacted, / an erasure / i am rearranging / to lure out of reach language / into my grasp."
July 3, 2023
This collection is heartbreakingly exquisite, bringing me in to so many corners of the poet’s life and soul and mind. It’s the rare poetry anthology I will be reading in full again, rather than by selections alone- there is too much to be found from each poem to skip around.
July 21, 2024
This book of poems on generational trauma, identity, diaspora, family, and depression is beautiful. It lit a fire in me and I am still thinking about the flowers that bloom from pain and the fertility of ash.
March 20, 2023
some moments were fantastic, some were overdone. needs a better editor
March 21, 2023
An absolutely beautiful read. Stunning and stabbing. Nguyen is a masterful poet and quickly a favorite of mine.
Read
December 23, 2023had me crying in the club (on the plane). Some of the poems are weaker than others, but when they’re good damn are they beautiful
September 24, 2025
spoke to the connection between language and identity in profoundly cathartic ways. as a daughter of catholic vietnamese american immigrants i don't think i've ever felt more seen
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews