This was the first poetry collection of bell hooks I’ve ever read. I bought it from my favorite local bookstore to support them. Plus, any time I can emphasize the importance of poetry, I do so. I’ve read other writings by bell hooks, and so I decided to add this book to my list of books to read for my last semester of my M.F.A. program. The title was what initially attracted me to this book. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

But I was still blown away. The poems are very short. Most of them don’t even take up one whole page. The book itself is short as well, with each poem printed only on the right handed pages. The brevity of the poems and of the book generate an organic flow of interest, of curiosity in the reader. I found myself wanting to read the whole book in one sitting simply because it was so digestible. It felt with each poem that I was being carried along through this collection of experiences surrounding love in all its forms, to an unknown destination. And I felt keenly that I belonged with the speaker at said destination.

However, the brevity of this book doesn’t mean that the poems don’t still breathe a sense of longing, power, loss, and belonging in their lines and blank spaces. Some of the poems are about family members. Some are about sex. Some are about heartbreak. Some are about death. And some are about the struggle of holding onto love. The images used to express these facets of loving connections are quiet, but also incredibly strong. It’s like a power ballad: the poems (and the book) start out on the softer side, somewhat reserved, but always clear, always concise. And then as the speaker builds a connection with the reader, as each poem comes and goes, the ballad builds, the tempo heightens, until the reader suddenly finds themselves completely engulfed by the dynamism of this book.

I started out reading 10 poems each day. By the time I reached he 30 page mark, I couldn’t hold back anymore and finished the book in a single sitting.

And by the time you reach the end, you realize that the speaker isn’t just communicating their different experiences with love, family, friendship, and loss. The speaker is sharing those memories, those moments with the reader, building a new connection through the reliving of old connections. And this connection isn’t just between a speaker and the reader; it’s between two entities that are learning to exist in love for one another. In this way, the reader is brought into the book itself, brought into and made part of the love being spoken of by the speaker. And it’s here that I realized the speaker and the reader are the angels speaking about love.

This is a beautiful book. It’s simple, but also incredibly moving and powerful without being cliche or silly, as can happen in poems about love sometimes. I highly recommend this book.