The poems in MATTTSTLFTD by Liza Rose made me feel an aching sort of nostalgia. Memory is a key theme. At times I almost got the shivers.
I loved the metaphor in Training Wheels, a poem about the individual influences on our writing and for the narrator these influences were Plath, Oliver and Bishop. I loved the imagery of these poets helping the writer grow as a poet.
and Bishop runs alongside me, steady hands on shaky shoulders,
She pushes me forward with such great momentum
that i don’t even notice when she lets go
Motion as the Thing that Separates the Living from the Dead Liza Rose
I liked the contemporary thoughts of modern methods of the preservation of our thoughts.
i often wonder
if our generation’s texts will be preserved
just as love letters of past generations were
Motion as the Thing that Separates the Living from the Dead Liza Rose
and I’ve never read lines in poetry as relatable as these ones:
MY BODY AS A LOST DOG
the word ‘my’ before ‘body’ never felt right to me. she feels, rather, like something i found and never had the heart to get rid of
Motion as the Thing that Separates the Living from the Dead Liza Rose
In poem I FEEL FULL OF EMPTINESS (IF THAT MAKES SENSE) I stopped highlighting lines I liked eventually. I had to highlight the entire poem, title included. I feel like I know these lines inside out.
A superb collection of poetry, made me feel and think.
A poetically raw, fresh, youthful look at the ever-difficult transition from girlhood to womanhood. Motion as the Thing that Separates the Living from the Dead pays attention to the little details of life and expands upon them in a solemn yet hopeful voice while exploring the topics of first love, first heartbreak, sexuality, self-love, and many others. For those falling in love, falling out of love, feeling out of place, trying to discover who they are: this book is for you.
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I wrote the poems in this book on loose pieces of paper, while I was in different countries in Europe. Some of the poems were my reflecting on things and others – scenes that were unfolding at the time. I think this was one of the first chapbooks I put together that had a strong theme. I had written a lot of love poems previously, when I was a baby poet and posting on Tumblr. There are still poems on love in this book, but not as many. There are poems that have humour, are silly and a section of micro-poems too.
Poetic Insights 