"The word "cannibal," the English variant of the Spanish word canibal, comes from the word caribal, a reference to the native Carib people in the West Indies, who Columbus thought ate human flesh and from whom the word "Caribbean" originated. By virtue of being Caribbean, all "West Indian" people are already, in a purely linguistic sense, born savage".

This poetry collection begins with this and let me tell you I was gagged listening to it, what a beginning!

This is the first time I have read an entire poetry collection through audiobook - and on the one hand, poetry is meant to be spoken, so I loved it, but on the other hand, I feel like I need to see the words of the poem to have it sink in properly and to appreciate it deeply.

I just read an article from the author about her book, how it came about, and her relationship with The Tempest, and it all made so much sense, poetry is always something that gains so much when unpacked (especially because her writing is quite lyrical).
 
Overall I liked this, and am continuing with not rating poetry collections because I often don't know how to!

"But how many ways can we reinvent violence?" 

If I’m honest, I didn’t love this collection and found it difficult to get into it. In the author’s defense, I will say that I definitely wasn’t in the greatest headspace while reading this, but I don’t know if I would have enjoyed it even if I was in the mood. This is definitely a me thing than anything— I just wasn’t a huge fan of the style presented in this collection.

To shine the good about this collection though, the imagery is incredible, especially when Sinclair talks about Jamaica. I also thought the way she dove into racism and colonialism was utterly powerful. Considering these things, I do want to read more of Sinclair’s works, in hopes that I’ll enjoy those more.