I have grown to love poetry in the last few years, and enjoyed this short collection of poetry. I first was interested by the cover alone. There was something about the Orca and title that drew me in.

At first, I will be honest, I wasn’t fully “getting” the poems, especially the first few. However, after rereading them their beauty began to take shape. This is something I love about poetry- the way it changes and speaks differently to you each time you read it. And when I realized what time period the poems were based on, then they hit so much deeper.

I think what touched my soul the most was the description of pain and grief, especially in “Breakthrough” where it describes the acute pain of illness. While I know it was specific to COVID, when it reads “A mess of words throbbing in my brain; my skull inadequate casing.” It reminds me of the many times where a chronic illness flares and my brain is very alive, but yet that is all that I can do. When it then reads “dishes piled on the desk, countless takeout orders,” I felt seen. In “Swinging steadfast from a tender branch,” the description of pain, and in particular menstrual pain… it hit the mark.

So while at first I was struggling to understand, the beauty began to reveal itself. Looking forward to more from this author.

***I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review***

what a beautiful, short collection of poetry! loved it so much and oh, how i wish it were a bit longer! i have a sweet spot for imagery and the writing in this was simply exquisite. highly underrated, and i definitely recommend <3

<b><i> “I will gorge myself on the ocean floor
& rise up,
grinning

a mouth full of shells
ready to shatter into words” </b></i>

props to the author for giving me inspiration to finally write and publish my own collection as well <3

<b><i> “From above, and in my throat, sparrows. From above, I have wrestled with the way clouds weep. In dreams I take flight, soaring over city blocks, patchworked rowhouses fathoms below. In dreams, I smash windows and don't even bleed. Glass shards turn to rose petals under my fingernails.” </b></i>

x

3.5 stars

** Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. **

Excerpt from "yakamoz" (my favorite poem from the collection)

... "or when I'm in the car and suddenly struck/ by an old pain, I want the asphalt/ to flood, to make a sailboat of me,/ skimming along the watery glow./ I want the moon in one pocket/ & the ocean in the other, to roll them/ between my fingers like worry beads,/ hold them close & know/ that when I need them,/ I can cast them out to make yakamoz,/ the word that actually means a phrase,/ the word that is a balm for/ pain as big as a whale's."

Pros
+ the final poem, "Yakamoz," is absolutely beautiful and a standout in the collection
+ themes: nature, water, ecology, survival, growth, grief
+ vibes: contemplative, sad
+ 4.5-star (1 poem):
"Yakamoz" - grief, water as healing, space
+ 4-star (2 poems):
"Brighton Beach" - beach, male gaze, bottom-feeder
"Aria of Mourning & the Maple" - overstimulation, parenthood
+ 3.5-star (4 poems):
"October" - trees, forest, air/breathing, shadows
"Migrants" - plant growth, survival
"M" - longing, pain, taste
"of hunger & circling" - grief, memory, hunger

Cons
- 3-stars (6 poems): "The earth wove a casket of reeds," "The Bookbinder," "You are what I feel," "swinging steadfast from a tender branch," "Aria of Space Travel Through Your Irises," "Practice Makes"
- 2.5-stars (1 poem): "Breakthrough"
- My average poem score was 3.4/5 (exactly meh)
- I felt neutral about the majority of poems. The nature imagery was nice and the style was inoffensive. Yet, it didn't make me feel nor did it make me think. Just kind of meh.
- I asked for this ARC because of the water imagery and was hoping for more, especially since the only poem I loved was the orca/ocean one at the very end.

Similar vibes: Your Heart Is the Sea by Nikita Gill (ocean/water, breakup, grief/healing themes)

TW: grief, a breakup

"you are what I feel / when my mouth puckers with tartness, / when the sentence comes out flawless, / when I see the word celestial." (loc. 72)

Chapbooks are such an odd beast of a thing: short and sweet, so much packed into so few pages. I'm not a poetry connoisseur (I know what I like but can't always articulate why, and poetry analysis is not my forte), and in spite or perhaps because of that I find chapbooks useful—enough to get a taste of the poet's writing but not so much that if it's not your cup of tea it drags.

I picked this one up largely for the title, taken from one of Nahum's poems:

"From above, and in my throat, sparrows. From above, I have wrestled with the way clouds weep. In dreams I take flight, soaring over city blocks, patchworked rowhouses fathoms below." (loc. 91)

The poems are a little over my head at times (again, I don't speak fluent poetry), but the imagery is lovely. It's probably a step too much wrestling for me, but that's okay—I'd rather a poem be a step too complex for my understanding than a step too simple to challenge. Would recommend this for those with a strong grasp of metaphor and impressionism.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

'I will gorge myself on the ocean floor
& rise up,
grinning

a mouth full of shells
ready to shatter into words'

Such a beautiful ode to the nature surrounding us humans. The author paints such beautiful comparisons between humans and various elements from the animal and plant world, you can easily feel and see them. The language is striking, oftentimes making you reread verses and contemplate their meaning. The beautiful craftsmanship of this short collection is even more astonishing when you realize that this is a debut author! I would highly recommend you add this to your collection as it is the type of book you could often come back to in the future; it would also be a perfect gift!

'From above, and in my throat, sparrows. From above, I have wrestled with the way clouds weep. In dreams I take flight, soaring over city blocks, patchworked rowhouses fathoms below. In dreams, I smash windows and don't even bleed. Glass shards turn to rose petals under my fingernails.'

I was really drawn in by the cover and felt it did well to set the tone for the works in this collection. There is just something about elements of the sea and nature that pushes all sense of longing, which came across well in the writing. This was a beautiful, short read.

I am not always a poetry person (unless we’re talking about Mary Oliver and in that case I’m always a fan) but I really enjoyed this book. The poems were all beautifully written and make me emotional, Migrants was my favorite one. I think this is poetry lots of people would resonate with and I can’t wait to recommend it.

Long Story Short: wrestling with the perfect words to convince everyone to read this book

Judy Nahum's poetry is best described as a strong tea: an aromatic blend that manages to put a peppery twist on Emily Dickinson's elliptical use of language.

This book was kindly made available to me by NetGalley. #netgalley #poetry #judynahum

3.5 stars to Judy Nahum's i have wrestled with the way clouds weep. This collection of poems was brief, yet carried profound insight into a story of love, life, grief, and healing.

from the poem "swinging steadfast from a tender branch":

"From above, and in my throat, sparrows. From above, I have wrestled with the way clouds weep... In dreams, I smash windows and don't even bleed. Glass shards turn to rose petals under my fingernails."

First of all, this cover is gorgeous. The image and colour palette is a solid 120/10 and is what drew me to the book as normally I am a bit hesitant at requesting poetry books from netgalley. I am so glad it did entice me as while short this poetry collection packs a punch. I found myself re-reading poems and still finding them as impactful as the first time.

This poetry collection attempts to encapsulate the feelings of pain and sorrow following on from grief and love. Basically, they are a collection of very human poems.

Thank you to #netgalley for this ARC.

This one benefits from being read out loud. It rolls of the tongue so beautifully and the meaning that i interpreted is grief and longing. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This collection was refined for an audience with mature thinking and broad mindset. It was beautifully complex and i loved reading it

"Pain is awakening the color of sun ... But my pain is not precious. My pain deserves to be loosed."

A delightfully profound (albeit brief) collection of poems that touch on nature, womanhood, love, nostalgia, quarantine, and grief. I particularly loved the poems Brighton Beach, yakamoz, and swinging steadfast from a tender branch. I would love to see more of Judy Nahum's elegant prose in the future.

This is a very short book of poems centered mostly around relationships and grief ( think). The words rolled off my tongue beautifully, with a lovely cadence, but their meaning didn’t quite reach or resonate with my heart the way I want poetry to. I admit they are not really for me, but they might be for you!

Here’s a snippet I did really like, though:

“Daylight, make me a forager,
a bottom feeder
with patient lungs
I will gorge myself on the ocean floor
& rise up,
grinning
a mouthful of shells
ready to shatter into words”

This book of poetry was so thought provoking and the language is really beautiful. I enjoyed the look at nature.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

It's my first time reading Judy Nahum's work and I will start by saying that the title of this book seized not just my attention but every fibre in me that adored words.
I love the way each word evokes not only an emotion but also wraps you into a sense of wonder and has you going on this journey of transformation. From 'swinging steadfast from a tender branch,' talking about pain and memory of pain, to 'of hunger and living,' starting off with this quote from another author about life and life's purpose to 'yakamoz' where the author simply says 'I want the moon in one pocket.'
If you love prose, and the taste of words in your mouth I can safely say that you ought to read this book, at least for the sake of an adventure and a reminder of how beautiful, raw and enchanting words can be.

Judy Nahum's pen is filled with imagery that can move even those most stoic. I felt haunted by her sorrow, touched by her loss and compelled to continue reading no matter what.
This is what poetry is supposed to do, in my opinion. Move you to the point of exhaustion, change you and challenge you. Dare you to reconsider what you know and to look through a different lense.

Beautiful collection of poetry. I really enjoyed this work. Nature shines through in every poem. I recommend.

A very quick read, exactly what I needed after not having the attention span for longer reads. These poems didn't really resonate with me and I don't havent read enough poetry to really decide if it was well written poetry, but I enjoyed reading it.

A brief, but beautiful collection of poems. I believe this collection will resonate with a lot of people as it explores familiar themes of illness, love, grief, and the natural world. My personal favorites were "You are what I feel" and "swinging steadfast from a tender branch" although I was also pleasantly surprised by "yakamoz" as its not very common to find Turkish being discussed in books! The poem inspired by this phrase was a stunning representation of grief. This collection was my first reading experience with this poet's work and I look forward to finding more in the future!