Status Updates From There Should Be Flowers

“Poem (Let Us Live)” was super powerful.

"I am the Body" lacks energy due to the various metaphors applied and their lack of expansion. The lack of connection between them may reflect the lack of connection the speaker has to their body and how the transformation process is jagged intself. However, in terms of comprehension, the same effect could have taken place within one metaphor. This would allow the reader to follow along a little easier.

Since my last checkpoint, I've found the poems to be more relatable, but occasionally, there appears to be inconsistent punctuation. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not, but it can be distracting. It's complementing the inconsistency between the internal and external experience of the transgender speaker.

Given that more of the poems seem to be trans-centered as I read more of the book, I'm having some difficulty relating to the poems as a cis-gendered woman. Occasionally, I recognize what the struggle is, but how the speaker survives is sometimes lost on me.

So far, this poetry collection is from the perspective of a transgender woman who is surviving in her body. Survival (mentally and socially) and addressing the body as a whole are huge themes.