Today Means Amen

Her poems are so beautiful and inspiring. My favorite ones are about her grandfather. Only those who went through a similar situation with a dear one will be able to fully understand her emotions. I also like the ones where she talks about shame. It's so refreshing to see a child acting like there's nothing wrong with what she's doing. I wish we could live like that forever. Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an ARC!

Today Means Amen by Sierra DeMulder is a collection of poetry and a reflection on life. DeMulder is an internationally touring performance poet, educator, and two-time National Poetry Slam champion. Sierra is a 2014 McKnight Fellowship recipient and her work has been featured on NPR, Huffington Post, The Advocate, and others.

It’s not all that often that a collection speaks with emotion throughout and in a way that a male reader can relate too. From a break up she compares to the experience to that of an infant finally realizing that he is no longer part of his mother and the first realization of being alone. DeMulder digs deeps in imagery and comparison.

One day, when she leaves the room, the baby will comprehend that he is actually alone.

Such a heavy load for something so small

The death of a spouse can be measured by the piles of mail, dishes, and photos. DeMulder calls this “tree rings of his solitude” In “Exodus 33:20” her comparison of the face of God or creation (and where the world technically begins) is insightful if not a bit sacrilegious to some, but her ability to draw comparisons is remarkable.

She writes touchingly on dementia that her grandfather suffered from, and, likewise, her treatment of depression, abuse, and self-doubt reach deep into the soul of the reader. Poems like “New Year” and “A Thousand Pieces” break the tension and provide a bit of emotional relaxation.

DeMulder is extremely talented and writes with real feeling. The emotional presence is real and not, as in so many first collections, forced or feigned. It’s rare that a collection can capture and hold the reader from cover to cover. I expect that we will be seeing more from DeMulder in the near future.

Today Means Amen is a book of contempory poems by Sierra DeMulder. I found her subject matter interesting and enjoyed her work. Some touched me a lot, and reminded me why reading poetry is so important.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of her poetry!

Somehow I hadn't stumbled upon Sierra DeMulder and her work yet - but I am so glad I finally did! You can tell her background in spoken poetry or slam poetry: the best way to experience 'Today Means Amen' is to read the words out loud. There is just a beautiful sound to all of them, even if the topics can get heavy. There is dealing with love in different forms, family and especially dementia, the self, abuse, eating disorder... all the poems are highly relatable or directly address the reader. DeMulder uses different formats for her poetry which mixes things up but overwise keeps it simple and honest. I really need to read more of her work!

There are no words, but I'll try. Absolutely stunning. I found myself crying more than once. DeMulder writes about topics ranging from sex to suicide, depression to love, Alzheimer's to beauty of innocence. Speaking with brilliant honesty, I found myself in her words and pain. Inner truths that can speak to almost every woman, specifically how we are made to hate ourselves and what that does to us. I want to talk more, but I still feel raw and I'm certain I can't do this justice.

Title: Today Means Amen

Author: Sierra DeMulder

Genre: Poetry

Release Date: 2 Feb 2016

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

This was a random read. The cover kind of intrigued me, and I've been in kind of a poetry mood lately, so I just went for it.

The poet, Sierra DeMulder, is apparently a slam poet of some notoriety, who has a bunch of videos on YouTube.

Premise:

A collection of poems by Sierra DeMulder.

Best bits:

A lot of the poems in this collection were truly beautiful and genuine, and I really did enjoy this book as a whole.

I'd have to say that my favourites were two poems from the last section of the book - 'Today Means Amen' and 'Release It,' because these were the ones that I most related to, and that I imagine most people would relate to in some way.

These two poems, like several of the others, were about being kind to yourself, keeping going even when life seems its darkest, love, and life.

A lot of the poems in this collection can, to me, be classified as 'good' poetry - you don't have to get it, it gets you: it has some life-like, almost breathing, quality to it.

Check out this video performance of 'Today Means Amen' and judge for yourself...

[video embedded in post here]

Not so great bits:

I did find that some of the imagery just wasn't to my taste - but that's a personal thing. Some of it was just a little too intimate (in pretty much every sense,) and made me feel slightly intrusive.

To each his own though; that intrusiveness just shows how very personal and open a lot of this poetry is - something which is always admirable, even if not always comfortable.

Verdict:

Overall I really enjoyed this collection - there were some poems I didn't enjoy so much, and some that I didn't relate to as well as others, but then, that's only natural really.

I imagine this would be great for dipping in-and-out of, and would be fairly accessible to people who aren't usually into poetry.