apocrifa

by Amber Flame

apocrifa imagines a love that sits comfortably at the crossroads of commitment and freedom. The developing intimacy between a lover and their beloved is propelled by a compendium of words for love, romance, sex, relationships, and affection that do not lend to direct translation in English. Serving as both titles and markers of the progression of time, these poetically defined words highlight the growing tension of one who claims “i cannot love you enough/to unlove the wide world” and yet is inextricably drawn to the offer of “a place of sustenance, rest, and my delight in your very bones.” Heavily inspired by the metaphors and structures of Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon), from the Apocryphal books of the Bible, the characters speak to each other with contrapuntal call-and-response while letting us into their private thoughts through epistles, sestinas, odes, and other poetic forms.

Genres: Poetry

90 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 16, 2023

Reviews

[Thea Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, delicate, rich work--one might say, a poetic conversation between two lovers--that one can and should read in one sitting.

[Elizabeth Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m normally not overly fond of love poems, but this collection has a particular interest in being a complete non-gendered love story. The vivid imagery and deep emotion that resonates in each part of the work, exceptional in themselves, are more unique due to the lack of reliance on “typical” love poem material of traditional relationships and gendered characteristics. My favorite poems were cinquain: apprehension, sestina: intention, sonnet: inhalation, kilig, and prozvonit.

[Kate Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no other book like this book. Really. The poetry is prayer, love story, play, and scar. Amber Flame weaves silence and desire together into something beyond the words and definitions and languages in this book. Read it and feel your spirit grow full and big. Read it and know you are reading a master craftsperson.

[Reagan Kapasi · Rating 2 out of 5]

For when you want to grow your vocabulary

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

so tender