Explorations of a Cosmic Soul

"Explorations of a Cosmic Soul" reminded me of the beauty of poetry that has been missing in daily life for years. Raising questions of pain, existence, growth, and purpose in a rushing society, Allie Michelle uses dreamy language and word choice to explore what we are lacking in modern society. I enjoyed her perspective of self-love and growth in a world asking us to hustle and judge, expecting others to love us without question when we struggle to love ourselves without question. Bringing a touch of art to discussions of trauma-informed healing, Michelle offers a treat to the soul.

''I am the ocean you tried to contain in a drop but my tides have only grown more wild''

A beautifully written poetry collection. This is the second book I read from Allie, and she didn't disappoint on this one. I would totally recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this before publication date.

I like that after some of the poems there is an explanation written by the author, it makes the poetry feel more personal and not as general as some poetry can feel. I'm not a huge fan of long poems, I tend to stick to the short and sweet style of Lovelace and Sin, but this was a pleasant surprise.

This was a a great poetry book! It took me longer to read than other poetry books because of the internal reflection it instigated. I really enjoyed the imagery and metaphors that the author used. I liked the constellations scattered throughout but I wish there were more graphics that correspond to the specific poems. Overall I would recommend this book and I will be purchasing a hard copy for myself.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a republishing of the author’s poems. This has additional poems, as the author says in their author’s note, which oddly is in the middle of their poems—perhaps to make the distinction between her earlier work and the poems that they have composed since then.

These poems speak about looking outside of yourself and really appreciate how you are part of the bigger picture—how “now” is not the end of the world and there is more to what we are experiencing at a certain time in our individual lives.

The poem I liked best was one that went along the lines of trying to manifest something and that certain thing isn’t appearing. The author states that you can’t possibly know what is ahead and dreams simply change, so at the end of a manifestation, one should add “this or something better.” I love that, and it really spoke to me.

I also really enjoyed how the author had her handwritten notes after some of the poems that kind of explained what was happening at the time or what inspired the above poem.

I definitely recommend reading their poems!!