Some quotes from that poem that particularly struck me: “A conversation begins / with a lie” (pg 16) “A poem can begin / with a lie. is called Cartography of Grief, and the symbiosis there is just too amazing for words. I was also immediately enthralled with her poem “Cartographies of Silence” because my current creative thesis for my M.F.A. I don’t think there was a single poem in this book that I didn’t underline at least one thing. I see it as a way of documenting my reactions to what I’m reading so that I can more thoroughly absorb the poetry and, hopefully, keep growing my craft and my use of language. Regardless, I keep a hand-written record of what hits me so that I can look back and remind myself of what I heard and received from a specific book of poetry. Sometimes it’s one line in a poem, sometimes it’s a whole stanza, and sometimes it’s a whole poem.

I have a habit of taking notes when I read, primarily in writing down quotes from what I’m reading that feel important or stand out to me in some way. The collection literally echoes with different sections of itself, and not because the writing is repeated, but because the speaker’s voice is so prominent throughout the book. The emotions fused into each line generates a kind of echoing cry that reaches into the next poem and the one after it. But it’s not just the writing itself that’s beautiful, it’s the poems and their many facets brought together to make a complete jewel. It’s astonishing to me how a writer can so effortlessly weave these subjects together, creating some of the most beautiful poems I have ever read. This collection unabashedly discusses same-sex love between women, even more so as the collection advances, while also navigating themes of the natural world, compassion, violence, and politics. It’s rare for me to find a book – poetry or otherwise – that makes me want to devour it in one sitting, but this book is certainly one of them. I’ve known of her for years and I’ve read some of her poems before in different literature classes, but never have I sat and absorbed this much of her poetry at once. This was the first collection I’ve ever read of Adrienne Rich.

The dream of a common language poem