This collection was stunning. Poem after poem I found myself absolutely struck by Leslie Saint’s ability to write such personal work that still spoke so deeply to me. I felt the heart in the poems and I adored all of the references to dining and eating throughout this. One of my favorite poetry collections this year!

Sainz just has such a talent for choosing and arranging words in incredibly poignant, unique ways. The descriptions and emotions sprang to life in my mind. My favorite poems were easily the sonnets - each one left me contemplating something new. My only issue was that I'm not well-versed in the historical context, so I felt that a lot went over my head - would definitely recommend looking into Cuban American history so you get the most out of this reading experience.

Awesome writing, really interesting cultural ties, and innovative poetry. I recommend to any poetry fans

Day 20 of #TheSealeyChallenge 2023. Have You Been Long Enough at Table by Leslie Sainz published by Tin House Books.

@SealeyChallenge @Tin_House @lesannsai

#thesealeychallenge2023 #sealeychallenge #poetry

Thanks to @netgalley for the sneak peak. This wonderfully nuanced collection spans continents and politics, emphasizing heart.

Some of my favorite moments:

There is no country where the dead don’t float. Men and children going, having gone, lungwet across thickened water.

I learn that the earth has a jaw too, swallows at will like a man. When

Now, my mother lives alone and with my father in Miami. My father lives with my mother and, some days, himself.

You skewer all the present moments with a fork. They squirm spectacularly, like second languages.

In the cul-de-sac, I found clouds on leashes, loose roosters. I thought thoughts ugly as clothespins.

Note: This review will remain on NetGalley due to usage of quotes but I'm very eager to go back and check for their accuracy once I have the final copy in my hands :) I will hold off on posting on my social and goodreads accounts until then!


"Do not celebrate. There is little difference / between being followed and being haunted. // With each passing hour I learn more about chance and limits. / I learn that the earth has a jaw too, swallows at will like a man. / When I was younger, I thought only the ocean could make things / disappear... I now suspect everything takes orders / from somewhere."

- from the poem, "Bodied, or Day 1 of 9"

Truly a collection of poems that looks to reclaim what has been lost. After my first reading of the book, I feel like this quote embodies what the poet strives to say in all her poems: "What occupies me / is also running. It never tires, but rather, repositions itself. / I should like to reposition myself, please. All of me this time." (from the poem, "Sonnet for Eleguá"),

It's an enormous task that the poet takes upon herself to explore the history of Cuban Americans while also taking into consideration the present and looking forward to the future!

From the beginning, we get introduced to the first of seven sonnets written for and alongside the Seven African Powers that takes into account the spiritual practice of Cuban exiles and their devotion.

"I am so endable, and yet, I am kept." (from the poem, "Sonnet for Obatala")

"I say thank you in a language I used to cover / my mouth before speaking..." (from the poem, "Sonnet for Orula")

"Before bed, I walked my plank of uncertainties / and plunged further into uncertainty. Am I capturing all of history / in this gesture? I shouted into the future. In the wet air of the future, / I could have but never appeared. No one was sorry but me." (from the poem, "Sonnet for Ochún)

These sonnets are spread throughout the three parts of the book.

In another poem, "A Story of Love and Faith / La Milagrosa" we get lines like: "Near-prayer and not... In this very moment, for different reasons, / this is as specific as I can be in both languages." We get more of the Cuban American experience and the statements of empowerment that many of the speakers of the poems make: "Young women are a series of images. We are regimes."

We get personal in poems like "Glassware" where the speaker says: "I am impressed by my convincing father and loyal mother. / Their face veins make clear they are not lying to themselves, / not themselves. Faithfully, I am a large shard / made of their smaller shards. If you were to / turn my ears inside out: hot skin. sleep, only trust your family." Parents come up again and again in a melancholy way, like in the poem, "Centerpiece" where the first line is indicator of their health, their age: "Your condition: suddenly then permanently." and how one must grapple with that information: "If I lie for you, mother, I'll feel it the most."

At the moment, this review is incomplete because there is so much lines and topics to take into consideration for example, Elena Milagro de Hoyos and her story and the way the speaker in the poem, "At the Center of the Story & Utterly Left Out" speaks on the act of women existing freely and what it means to be seen by others especially men and their "kindness" to not act violently or perverse: "Do you believe we want enough of ourselves?"

This book has an excellent level of engagement with the reader that I love having with the poet and thus will need some time to further contemplate but I am very happy to say that overall, this book is an excellent debut!!!