What I Keep

by Jennifer K. Greene

Poetry. Native American Studies. Born and raised on the Flathead Reservation in Montana, Greene's poetry recalls memories of love won and lost, and memories of what the senses have experienced. Jennifer K. Greene's WHAT I KEEP is an extraordinary debut: a unified verse collection distinguished by its technical prowess, clean lines, steady vision, and smart heart. The love poems make me ache. What I keep is returning to this wonderful world of a book--its voice so clear and compelling that even the stars listen and hear every word. --Jim Simmerman, author of Kingdom Come. Why don't you love me like your picture?/ Smiling and smiling./ Captured on black and white/ I carry your picture/ smiling and smiling./ Your little face is in my wallet/ smelling one dollar bills/ smelling shiny gray credit cards/ looking at grocery store receipts, / rubbing up against pens/ without caps and unused Kleenex./ Why can't you love me/ like your picture/ that's always with me/ smelling my purse with/ minty foil gum wrappers?... (A Picture). T

Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Jennifer Greene lives on the Flathead Reservation in Montana where she was born and raised. Her book of poetry entitled What I Keep was the winner of the 1998 North American Native Authors Poetry Award. She's won first-place awards from the Native American Journalists Association for feature writing. Her writing appeared on a CD entitled Heart of the Bitterroot: Voices of Salish and Pend d'Orielle Women which was nominated for a Native American Music Award in 2008. Jennifer is Salish and Chippewa-Cree and a member of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes. She's married and has three children.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Scarlett Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a whole lot of poetry, and don't usually have much to say about it, but I was given this book and ended up really enjoying it. It's divided into three sections, and the poems in each section sort of have a different theme. There are poems about the place in Montana where the author is from, poems that take place in the southwest and are mostly about her relationship with her husband, and poems that are stories, slices of life that I didn't assume were about the author personally. In a way, they remind me a bit of Mountain Goats songs, because Greene uses a lot of really specific imagery, and even when the specifics are not familiar, what she is saying is relatable.