Welcome to Litsy!

This was very very good. Part of my reading 20 books by Black women challenge this year.

( I have to research and pick the book on purpose. I‘ve read ARCS buddy reads etc by Black women but I don‘t count them..)

Here‘s a great article that describes it. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/rebirth-of-venus

This was a California Book Club pick a couple of months ago. I tried to read it, but I find reading poetry---especially a whole book of it---to be a lot of work for not enough reward. Beautiful (and sometimes devastating) imagery, but it just didn't work for me.

Thanks to #ReadYourSign I read this amazing book of poetry with my ruling planet in the title: Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis. Part Two is made of “...titles, catalog entries, or exhibit descriptions of Western art objects in which a black female figure is present...”

#poemsbeforephones

Things have been hectic over here and I haven‘t logged into Litsy much, but I‘ve continued to read poetry every morning before opening up my phone. Today I finished the tagged book. It‘s a mixed bag, with lots of intense poetry that isn‘t really Good morning! material. But I thought the epic poem in the center using the titles of works of art was incredible. I‘ve posted a portion of that poem here.

For the last two days I‘ve been in the most incredible section of this collection. I‘ve posted here some of the guidelines the poet created for herself and the resulting poetry has been incredibly moving (I‘ll post some tomorrow). It‘s where the title of the collection comes from.

Anyway, #poemsbeforephones still going strong. I also love reading all of the poetry y‘all tag me in—I get more poetry before I have to do actual phone stuff 😊

Red three poems this morning—including a four part ode to the 1978 film The Wiz—and settled on this one that really resonates with me.

#poemsbeforephones

Wish I had the tech savvy/appropriate app to put this poem side-by-side with the image that inspired it. But if you google “from Harlem to Hitler” you‘ll see it.

#poemsbeforephones

#poemsbeforephones

This collection is pretty intense for first thing in the morning, but wow. Next time I might choose nature writing or some Mary Oliver to balance me out because some of these poems are blowing my mind 🤯

#poemsbeforephones

One reason I haven‘t been posting each morning after I read a poem is because once I finish reading, I‘m inspired to do all the other morning-type things I can do without my phone. I go through my whole morning routine without my phone and I‘m loving it. Don‘t know how long I can keep it up, but I‘m grateful for the peace poetry before technology has brought me. ✌🏽

National Book Award winner for poetry!

Today‘s visit to my local indie shop was the best therapy. Loved chatting with the bookshop folks (and this is coming from an introvert). Litsy and bookshops are my true safe spaces in life 💚

This collection is amazing. The conceit of the title poem alone is amazing and then we get lines like this: "And because my hunger is so deep, I am ashamed to lift my head." #riotgrams #poetry

#JuneBookBugs #APlanetInTheTitle

Both of these are from my tbr... and I plan to read both of them this year. 😃

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 76 - The Body in August

This ends the poetry collection THE VOYAGE OF THE SABLE VENUS

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 75 - Art & Craft

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 74 - The Present/Our Town

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 73 - Young Woman and Hope, Holding Photo of Pearl

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 72 - Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Girl

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 71 - Brown Girl After the Bath

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 70 - Self-Portrait in Studio

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 69 - Las Meninas Autoportrait: As Armas do Império

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 68 - Dick-and-Jane-with-Me Page Spread / The Upper Room II Flipside Self

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 67 - Landscape, Western Hemisphere

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 66 - Modern Civil Right

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 65 - Emancipation & Independence

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 64 - L'Effroi Full-Length

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 63 - When the Woman's Left Ear Ring Is Pulled

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 62 - The Mulatress African Woman With Basket

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 61 - Abraham Lincoln

#LitayPoetry365 Day 60 - At Auction

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 59 - American Gothic

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 58 - The Negro Revenged

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 57 - Girl Standing in the Mist of Heaven

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 56 - Garden of Earthly Delights Class in Ancient History

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 55 - The Queen Has Her Hair Done

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 54 - Ancient Egypt

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 53 - Relief

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 52 - Standing

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 51 - The Ship's Inventory

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 50 - Prologue to "Voyage of the Sable Venus" (part 2)

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 50 - Prologue to "Voyage of the Sable Venus" (part 1)

The second section of Lewis' collection is a poetry cycle that draws inspiration from the titles and other aspects of Western art that features black, female figures.

A powerful poetic voice examines the portrayal of black figures throughout the history of art while also turning a critical eye to her own experiences. Her voice is so strong and developed it is difficult to believe this is her debut collection. Highly recommended.

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 49 - Summer

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 48 - Dog Talk

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 47 - "From: To:"

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 46 - The Mothers

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 45 - verga

I could smell the world all over you.
You gave it to me - a fresh, sharp walnut -
pungent and coy
You cracked it, plucked out its intelligence, then dropped it in my hand; this deep
black joy.

#lgbtq #poetry

#LitsyPoetry365 Day 44 - Mother Church #3

I absolutely love VOYAGE OF THE SABLE VENUS; it was one of my favorite books of 2015. Because some of the poems are many pages long, I won't be sharing every single poem in this collection here. However, you should definitely check out this collection!

It's #SockSunday and also #PoetsDay - yay!

These are some of my fave poetry collections from some of my fave poets 💕