Whew...

Okay, so I don't know if it's the double shot of espresso from this morning that has me feeling exhilirated or if it's the fact that I just, seconds ago, finished reading Against Which by Ross Gay. First words that came to mind after reading the first section: masculinity and rage. Masculine rage. I felt like I'd been given an IV of masculine rage after reading the first section. This could also be the espresso lol. But the word rage actually shows up a few times in the poems. These poems were muscles with bulging veins, if I had to lend an image. There was also this awareness of the reader that was nice. Well, it was more like an awareness that someone was listening. Reading these poems felt more like listening, actually listening, to someone who was passionate about what they had to tell me. You know how when someone stands up in front of you and their arms are bent at the elbows, hands curled into fists, and they look like they could drop to their knees at any moment all from the shear exhiliration (it's confirmed, it's the book) of sharing..that's what I felt like I bore witness to while reading this book.

That's just a quick first impression upon first reading. I'll leave it pure like that since my internal editor keeps erasing anything else I have to say about it lol. I'm weary about just leaving it at masculine & rage because there were many more descriptive words to use, tender being the first one that comes to mind. Definitely a shift to internal strength in the later sections. Tender masculine rage. There's no all-inclusive term that I can think of, I just wanted to put those words together lol.

Anyway...I'm either reading Terrance Hayes Hip Logic next or re-reading Lisa Glatt's A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That. I think I'll be posting my thoughts on my reading for awhile. Probably until I leave Idaho in a few months and my life starts happening again lol.