Push and Pull

by Belle Townsend

Belle Townsend's debut book grapples with what it means to survive, to live, to be, and to create. Push and Pull is comprised of personal and palatable poetry, seeking to name feelings and experiences that we can all relate to. In a time of short attention spans and ever increasing burnout, Townsend seeks to share a piece of writing that can engage people who are not self-described readers. Townsend recognizes that creation is hindered under our socioeconomic circumstances, and so, this book serves to just be written as much as it serves to be read.

44 pages, Paperback

Published July 27, 2022

Reviews

[cheer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Push and Pull is a collection of poetry that feels like one of those profound and intimate late-night conversations that happen in the early stages of a new friendship. Baring your soul to someone still so full of mysteries is a leap of faith from comfortable discomfort to honest uncertainty. At the end of it all, though, you feel less alone. You feel recognized; you have been reassured that you exist.

What is the relationship between the personal and the political? Who am I, or is there no answer to that? What does community mean? How should I feel about mine, and why? Can anything matter more than the fact that we're here, right now, together?

I am a 22 year old queer Marxist from the South, and I am terrified by the way loneliness is weaponized in this world. Push and Pull exudes the antidote to that fear.

[eli]

Push and Pull beautifully breaks down the most tender of moments in our lives and contextualizes these moments in the history we are making today. I don’t often re-read books, but I’ve read this twice this week and am realizing more about myself and the world each time. When reading each poem, after each and every one you need a moment of pause, of reflection and a gaining of understanding. Incroyable ma chérie