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Eye Level
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
24 posts | 12 read | 13 to read
Winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets, selected by Juan Felipe Herrera For years now, Ive been using the wrong palette. Each year with its itchy blue, as the bruise of solitude reaches its expiration date. Planes and buses, guesthouse to guesthouse. Ive gotten to where I am by dint of my poor eyesight, my overreactive motion sickness. 9 p.m., Hanois Old Quarter: duck porridge and plum wine. Voices outside the door come to a soft boil. from Phnom Penh Diptych: Dry Season Jenny Xies award-winning debut, Eye Level, takes us far and near, to Phnom Penh, Corfu, Hanoi, New York, and elsewhere, as we travel closer and closer to the acutely felt solitude that centers this searching, moving collection. Animated by a restless inner questioning, these poems meditate on the forces that moor the self and set it in motion, from immigration to travel to estranging losses and departures. The sensual worlds herecolors, smells, tastes, and changing landscapesbring to life questions about the self as seer and the self as seen. As Xie writes, Me? Im just here in my travelers clothes, trying on each passing town for size. Her taut, elusive poems exult in a life simultaneously crowded and quiet, caught in between things and places, and never quite entirely at home. Xie is a poet of extraordinary perceptionboth to the tangible world and to all that is untouchable as far as the eye can reach.
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TheSpineView
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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dabbe 💚💙💚 8mo
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TheBookKeepers
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Pickpick

Really loved this collection! We‘ve had some amazing books this round!! I‘ll try and mail this Monday or Tuesday! @slategreyskies @HoneyBeeLee @thebluestocking #lmpbc

thebluestocking I‘m glad you enjoyed it! 💙 4y
TheBookKeepers @HoneyBeeLee mailed this today! 4y
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thebluestocking
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Pickpick

I quite enjoyed this slender collection. Xie explores themes of travel and belonging and story and so much more. Her poetry evokes clear images and is precise, which worked for me here. I‘ll be watching for additional collections from her.

I hope the ladies in my current #LMPBC group enjoy it too!

Redwritinghood I really liked this collection too. 5y
thebluestocking @Redwritinghood So well done. 💙 5y
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DreesReads
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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January round-up, poetry edition. Tagged book was my favorite.

BarbaraBB Looks like a piece of art, your collage 😀😍 5y
DreesReads @BarbaraBB there is a definite color scheme 😂 5y
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DreesReads
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Pickpick

I loved this poetry collection! There is a section on her parents‘ lives as immigrants and her own experiences growing up in an immigrant community. Also lots of Nature and travel poems. This was a finalist for the 2018 NBA for Poetry. #poetry #nationalbookaward

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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Pickpick

“Eye Level” didn‘t immediately captivate me or blow me away. It wasn‘t an instantaneous connection; it was more of a slow build. Travel is a major theme, along with avoidance. I‘ve gone basically nowhere & might be a little overly communicative & in-touch with my emotions. The words, however, remained evocative, though they still maintained that sense of distance.

*cont‘d👇🏻

monalyisha 1/1: I eventually connected with themes of the past/future, & memory/reinvention. When I finished, I was surprised by just how many lines I‘d (figuratively, since it‘s a library book 😉) marked & underlined. A reserved but firm pick. 6y
monalyisha Favorite poems:
“Old Wives Tales on Which I Was Fed”, “Alike, Yet Not Quite”, “Captivity”, “Invisible Relations”, “Borderless”, & “Tending.”
6y
slategreyskies What is #poemsbeforephones ? I love poetry, so that hashtag really interests me. 5y
monalyisha Hi @slategreyskies! It was something I was doing as part of my New Year‘s Resolution. I lasted for a good 6 months! I‘d wake up & reach for poems first thing in the morning instead of my phone. Beautiful language & contemplation instead of mindless technology, to start my day off slow & right. I had some folks who joined me! 5y
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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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“Tsvetaeva, open on my bedside table.
Lines feeding on a crust
of lamplight.”

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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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“And a question stammers in the mind for weeks, one key aquiver on the piano.”

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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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“We said untrue things to make the time go faster, our teeth bright with holes.”

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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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“It is good to wake and sleep, to scrape jars with spoons.”

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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Poetic snippets from Jenny Xie:

“Seeing the collars of this city open...”

“Smell of shadows in both March and October...”

“Books that prowled her until the hard daybreak, and for months after.”

#poemsbeforephones
Photo by: Hengki Koentzhoro

DivineDiana Stunning photograph! 6y
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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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DivineDiana I understand. ❤️ 6y
monalyisha @DivineDiana I think she‘s specifically talking about meditation — with the awareness that it applies to so much. 6y
DivineDiana Interesting. And I just finished meditating! Maybe that‘s why it spoke to me. 🤔 6y
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blurb
monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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“We are wiped of age first thing in the morning.”

I‘d be lying if I said I didn‘t dream about getting lost in my high school (which was labyrinthine & obviously looked nothing like my real high school, which I graduated from over 15 years ago), & kissing boys from my past last night. (Sadly, none of those boys were Ryan Gosling). I think I woke up 16 years old. 🤷‍♀️

Swe_Eva 😂👍🏻 6y
JaclynW This is fabulous! 6y
DivineDiana 👏🏻👍🏻👏🏻 6y
Ddzmini 😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰 6y
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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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This is my favorite poem in the collection so far.

Today, I looked up how many days straight I‘ve gone in my goal of reading a poem (or few) before reaching for technology. I‘m at 89! 🙌🏻💪🏻🌸

#poemsbeforephones

Redwritinghood Way to go! 👏🏻👏🏻 6y
CindyMyLifeIsLit I love this goal! Kudos to you! 6y
DivineDiana Cheers! 🍾 6y
Bradleygirl Bravoooo! 6y
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monalyisha
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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#poemsbeforephones ugly airport-carpet edition! 😆

“You‘ll wreck your eyesight poring over pages in low light/but looking at all things green from a distance can coax it back.”

Going to warmer climes for a few days! ☀️🌴
Maybe I‘ll gaze at some greenery & fix my terrible vision. 👁 It‘s snowing this morning, too.
GET ME OUTTA HERE!

TrishB Enjoy where ever you‘re off too 👍🏻 6y
monalyisha @TrishB just a mini Florida trip. We have zero plans. I brought a book or 6. 😉📚 6y
TrishB Sounds lovely 👍🏻😘 6y
See All 7 Comments
BibliOphelia The snow is killing me this morning. We go to FL in April and I‘m counting the days. Enjoy! 6y
DivineDiana Have a fantastic trip! 🌞 6y
Redwritinghood Have a great trip. And I loved this collection. 6y
Crazeedi Have fun! 6y
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CoffeeNBooks
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Pickpick

#BookRiotReadHarderChallenge2019: collection of poetry published since 2014

DoubleARon That looks very interesting 6y
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Thndrstd
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Pickpick

An outstanding debut poetry collection that, as the title suggests, is a lot about seeing and perception. Her words often transport to places she has been in terms of geography or personal history. Highly recommended.

readordierachel Sounds good! 6y
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Mitch
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Just when you thought your TBR was safe and you could breathe easy until 2019..! 🤣🤣🤣

https://pen.org/2019longlists/

Readerann 😩📚📚📚📚 6y
AlaMich There‘s always another list!! 6y
Mitch @Readerann I know! There‘s some good ones here..and some that are new to me, which is always exciting! 6y
Mitch @AlaMich tell me about it! 6y
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Redwritinghood
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Pickpick

This NBA longlisted poetry collection explores the inner life and connections to people and places. The author seems to struggle with the way language is often unable to bridge the gap between the self and the outside world. Multiple poems detail observations, as if from a great distance, of various locations - Corfu, Phnom Penh, etc. Others explore failed attempts to use language for connection. 5⭐️

8leagueboot I adore this cover. 6y
monalyisha Great review! 💕 6y
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DannyOlda
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Tfw you're an introvert and you're forced to use the few phrases of a language you don't know very well. Seriously, that efficiency of words... If this whole collection is like that, I'd be so pleased.

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DannyOlda
Eye Level: Poems | Jenny Xie
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Just saw this was longlisted for the National Book Award in poetry. Also, I love Graywolf Press. So I'm pretty optimistic about this one.