This book had been on my to-read list for so long that every time I saw it in a bookstore it was so familiar I felt uncertain as to whether I had already purchased a copy at some point. (I had not.) But then it was on the display for National Poetry Month at my local library, so I finally checked it out and read it during the Feminist Book Club Readathon.

I think all the build-up actually made it harder for me to enjoy this book. Because I felt like it was fine, I enjoyed it. There were individual poems that moved me, that inspired me, that surprised me. But somehow I stayed removed from them all. I did not love this collection quite like I wanted to. (I may also have been influenced by the fact that this library copy REEKED of cigarette smoke. I mean, it was really bad. it made being near enough this book to read it unpleasant.)

Themes of Native identity and culture, queerness, the importance of water, womanhood, myth, permeate these poems. I am glad that I finally read this, I am just a little surprised that I am unlikely to go buy a copy to keep for myself. I will still seek out her previous collection, though. ( )

I consistently enjoy Diaz's poetry. Overall I preferred When My Brother Was An Aztec, but I really treasured the river poems. First for the connection to ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au. And then for the explicit response to Urrea's the Water Museum. I did not know the connection when I chose these two books, or when I decided to read them this month, but I'm delighted to discover this conversation. ( )

I will be rereading and rereading and annotating this book - it takes turns being heartbreaking and breathtaking.
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Postcolonial Love Poem won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, and wow I can see why. I had already read a couple of the poems that had been shared on tumblr, and I loved Natalie Diaz's writing. She's so so good: passionate and angry and grieving and heartfelt and poetic and in love; a master of her craft. This is a short book, but I had to put it away for a couple of days instead of reading it in one sitting because it's so intense. It will stay with me for a long time. Her poems all feel deeply personal, regardless of whether or not they actually happened in real life.
I loved this and recommend it highly, although of course the poems are often difficult to read (some topics covered include missing & murdered indigenous women, water protestors, America's anti-indigenous history and mentality, etc.). Themes I kept seeing: green, bulls/horns, the land/desert, rivers/water...

Read the full review, including trigger warnings, at https://fileundermichellaneous.blogspot.com/2022/05/book-review-postcolonial-lov... ( )

A wonderful collection of poetry deeply steeped in the author's Native American heritage. The poems here have a wide variety of subject matter. Some are environmental in nature, some involve her family with a sports bent and sensual love poems that exalt in the exploration of her lovers body. I love the variety of length, depth and structure from poem to poem. I certainly can see why this collection received all the acclaim that it did. I loved it. ( )