so-soI think maybe I took too long to finish this collection, took too long of a break in the middle, & lost the thread of it and its essence.
Major themes are: youth, pregnancy, mother/daughter relationships, giving a baby up for adoption, loss of a parent, aging.
The purple trumpets of petunias are juxtaposed with cigarette butts & bad mayonnaise. The word “fart” appears multiple times. Life is a mixed bag. 🤷♀️
“Though this is the fifth time Charlotte / has died my mother is crying again and we‘re laughing / at her because we know nothing of loss and its sad math, / how every subtraction is exponential, how each grief / multiplies the one preceding it.”
This title poem is lovely.
I almost completely avoided the beach today, since it‘s technically still Independence Day weekend in New England (the fireworks will go on for weeks).
Instead, I just waited until later in the afternoon & then struck bravely out. I‘m so glad I did! It was surprisingly quiet, I got a ton of articles read for class, & I even snuck in a few poems. Plus, some fresh seafood, homemade (pistachio) ice cream, & a sunset on the way home. 💖🌅🌊
“I think of her body as one of those small towns where the lone factory‘s down to a single shift, a building where birds fly in and out of deciduous windows and high school boys break and enter nightly to light fires and talk big. Listen to them and you can almost believe their hearts will never turn bitter and quit.”
Hi, my name is Alyisha & I‘m a bookaholic. Some of you may be familiar with my condition. 😉 This is the first time in over 7 weeks (!) that I‘ve allowed myself a full day of pleasure reading. It‘s been all textbooks, all the time over here & I need a *break.*
I‘m leaning toward “Normal People” but could potentially be swayed in another direction. I‘m about to read the first few sentences of each of these to make my decision. I love this part. 💕
Sad Math: Poems | 
