I am the first to admit that poetry is not my thing. For the most part I don't pick it up and when I do I usually feel 'meh' about it. That being said, I found this book very accessible for the poetry novice and both the form and the content were intriguing and relevant to almost anyone who would pick up this book.

Amanda Gorman's poetry is meaningful and heartfelt in a way that readers can immediately recognize and relate to. Most of the poems in this book are reflecting on the year 2020 and the changes and harm that COVID-19 and the experience of a global pandemic had on our individual psyches, our communities, our society, nation, and global citizenry. Gorman weaves together our unique experience of 2020 with the experiences of those who came before experiencing similar circumstances but in their own particular contexts. It's a lovely way to remember, acknowledge, and honor our own trauma while situating it within a larger global and historical context.

I am grateful we read this book for book club this past month. We had lively and in-depth discussion and reflection about a book that was outside many of our comfort zones. I highly recommend this book to everyone. No reservations, no caveats, just a great book to pick up, read, and allow yourself to be immersed in the poetry and reminiscence of a 'lost year.'

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2/150 for Mama in 2024

This is best absorbed via audiobook. Amanda Gorman speaking her own words always pulls emotions to the surface, especially when her writing centers on the harder parts of the last two years.

This book really helped me process everything that's happened in the past two years, and has given me inspiration to keep going despite a very uncertain future. I can't wait to come back to this book again and again.

When they say it’s hard to tell when you’re living through a historical event because you are within it. I think, in Gorman’s collection here, that she is attempting to acknowledge those of us who have survived this historical event. And to call on us to recognize the homologous historical events that were survived before this one.

I think she succeeded in this endeavor and I, personally, have experienced a new appreciation for poetry in this beautiful, raw and and joyfully experimental work playing with old forms and new ideas.