The Book of Questions


Pablo Neruda - 1974
    Composed of 316 unanswerable questions, these poems integrate the wonder of a child with the experiences of an adult. By turns Orphic, comic, surreal, and poignant, Neruda's questions lead the reader beyond reason into the realms of intuition and pure imagination.This complete translation of Pablo Neruda's El libro de las preguntas (The Book of Questions) features Neruda's original Spanish-language poems alongside William O'Daly's English translations. In his introduction O'Daly, who has translated eight volumes of Pablo Neruda's poetry, writes, "These poems, more so than any of Neruda's other work, remind us that living in a state of visionary surrender to the elemental questions, free of the quiet desperation of clinging too tightly to answers, may be our greatest act of faith."When Neruda died in 1973, The Book of Questions was one of eight unpublished poetry manuscripts that lay on his desk. In it, Neruda achieves a deeper vulnerability and vision than in his earlier work-and this unique book is a testament to everything that made Neruda an artist."Neruda's questions evoke pictures that make sense on a visual level before the reader can grasp them on a literal one. The effect is mildly dazzling [and] O'Daly's translations achieve a tone that is both meditative and spontaneous." --Publishers WeeklyPablo Neruda, born in southern Chile, led a life charged with poetic and political activity. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the International Peace Prize, and served as Chile's ambassador to several countries, including Burma, France, and Argentina. He died in 1973.II.Tell me, is the rose naked or is that her only dress?Why do trees conceal the splendor of their roots?Who hears the regrets of the thieving automobile?Is there anything in the world sadder than a train standing in the rain?XIV.And what did the rubies say standing before the juice of pomegranates?Why doesn't Thursday talk itself into coming after Friday?Who shouted with gleewhen the color blue was born?Why does the earth grievewhen the violets appear?

this is how you know i want you.


AVA. - 2015
    the book is meant to be read straight through and takes you into the rabbit hole of falling in love.

Things I Learned in the Night


Emily Byrnes - 2018
    Many of the poems in this book are exquisitely woven with nature imagery; a subtle reminder that through our struggles and joys we must all remember to take deep breaths and run in the rain every now and then.

Oculus: Poems


Sally Wen Mao - 2019
    The title poem follows a nineteen-year-old girl in Shanghai who uploaded her suicide onto Instagram. Other poems cross into animated worlds, examine robot culture, and haunt a necropolis for electronic waste. A fascinating sequence spanning the collection speaks in the voice of the international icon and first Chinese American movie star Anna May Wong, who travels through the history of cinema with a time machine, even past her death and into the future of film, where she finds she has no progeny. With a speculative imagination and a sharpened wit, Mao powerfully confronts the paradoxes of seeing and being seen, the intimacies made possible and ruined by the screen, and the many roles and representations that women of color are made to endure in order to survive a culture that seeks to consume them.

a fire like you


Upile Chisala - 2020
    Throughout this third book, she explores her identity as a black Malawian woman, offering intimate reflections on her life and experiences, imparting a stirring, universal message of empowerment and self-love.

The Words I Wish I Said


Caitlin Kelly - 2018
    in fact most of these words i wish i didn’t write. just to the small fact of, i wish i didn’t care… but sadly i do. but if i said the words i wish i did, then they wouldn’t be my little secret, they would be words on paper in a book. they would be words taken out of context, because the world loves to take things out of context. the words i wish i said are between me and my party of a brain. because if you knew the words, then you would have such an advantage over me, and my quiet showers where i ramble on to myself about my words wouldn’t be my secret anymore. you may be able to take most of me but you’ll never be able to take all of me.

Salt Water


Brianna Wiest - 2017
    Gracefully touching on the issues of self-awareness, wholeness and what it takes to reconcile with yourself, her prose artfully illustrates how healing helps us to actualize our latent potential and bring us into a greater awe for the universe that we are so irrevocably connected to.

Helium


Rudy Francisco - 2017
    Rudy's poems and quotes have been viewed and shared millions of times as he has traveled the country and the world performing for sell-out crowds. Helium is filled with work that is simultaneously personal and political, blending love poems, self-reflection, and biting cultural critique on class, race and gender into an unforgettable whole. Ultimately, Rudy's work rises above the chaos to offer a fresh and positive perspective of shared humanity and beauty.

Words from a Wanderer


Alexandra Elle - 2013
    This book was created with hopes of uplifting and encouraging readers in many ways. There is a journal in the back of the book for readers and fellow writers to indulge in to keep the "conversation" going. Author, Alexandra Elle, wrote this book to shed light on the fact that indeed not all who wander are lost; some are simply still finding their way.

All the Letters I Should Have Sent


Rania Naim - 2018
     To the ones who broke our hearts and the ones that got away. To the ones who loved us and the ones who healed us. To the ones who made us ask important questions and the ones who gave us the answers. To all the people who once came into our lives and left an impact, left a mark or left a scar. This book is for you.

Love Is a Dog from Hell


Charles Bukowski - 1977
    Collection of poems rising from and returning to Bukowski's personal experiences reflect people, objects, places, and events of the external world, and reflects on them, on their way out and back.

Forgive Me My Salt


Brenna Twohy - 2016
    Widely known for her performance poetry, which has been viewed over 3 million times on YouTube, author Brenna Twohy's debut collection reads like a letter to all that haunts her-- letting them know that despite her wounds, she's still alive.

I Am Not Your Final Girl


Claire C. Holland - 2018
    Holland, a timely collection of poetry that follows the final girl of slasher cinema - the girl who survives until the end - on a journey of retribution and reclamation. From the white picket fences of 1970s Haddonfield to the apocalyptic end of the world, Holland confronts the role of women in relation to subjects including feminism, violence, motherhood, sexuality, and assault in the world of Trump and the MeToo movement. Each poem centers on a fictional character from horror cinema, and explores the many ways in which women find empowerment through their own perceived monstrousness.

The Anatomy of Being


Shinji Moon - 2013
    Broken up into four chapters, she holds your hand and takes you inward with her, from skin to flesh, to flesh to bones, from bones to all that lies within. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, The Anatomy of Being marks a very distinct time in a young girl's life, and aches and aches to be heard and devoured. 2013 Goodreads Choice Awards Poetry Finalist

The Bees


Carol Ann Duffy - 2011
    Weaving through the book is its presiding spirit, the bee, symbolizing what we have left of grace in the world and what is most precious for us to protect. Winner of the 2011 Costa Poetry Award.