Surrender: poems for healing, growth, and love

£9.9
FREE Shipping

Surrender: poems for healing, growth, and love

Surrender: poems for healing, growth, and love

RRP: £99
Price: £9.9
£9.9 FREE Shipping

In stock

We accept the following payment methods

Description

The title - and very first - poem, which is the one I had read and loved before I read the collection, stands out head and shoulders above the rest. A few others that I really enjoyed include 'Pareidolia', 'Nesting Doll' and 'After', and while I understand that grief does different things to us all, most of the poems about it were my least favourite of the bunch. In Surrender, Stefanie Briar takes the reader on a journey with her as she speaks with beauty, power and great insight on healing and gives the reader ways we can begin or continue our own healing journey. I felt so connected to the power of her words that I was in tears, but tears of healing and letting go. I found the section on “Change” so important as we cannot heal and grow without it. The section “Love” helps others fell that if they work on healing and changing they will not have to search for or force love. Briar’s love poems are so beautiful that they show that it does not matter the gender of the person you love, for love truly is love. I appreciate her bravery in speaking her truth to help inspire and empower others who are still in earlier phases, whether it be that they are lost, or have yet to embark on a healing path. Grateful to read this transformative book so eloquently written. Perhaps one of the greatest lines for me, and where I am on my own journey, “You cannot love someone into choosing you.” Thank you Stefanie for your words and your light. Nowadays I don’t know what to do with my hands. I write. I say your name over and over until it isn’t a word. I sit outside and weep into the daisies until memory becomes less of a burden and more of a fact.” Much of the collection feels both formulaic and juvenile, and while there are glimmers of brilliance, a lot of Conlon's work in this collection falls flat to me.

This book is largely self-biographical, reading almost like a memoir in parts, but its major take-aways apply broadly, echoing loudly for anyone who has ever fought to protect their softness, their hopefulness in the face of a hollowing hurt. While growing up, I never really understood poetry. The odd structure and the abstract metaphors left me confused. The dramatic tone and intense imagery felt forced and unrealistic. Irritated, I wondered why poets couldn't express their thoughts and emotions more clearly so that I could better follow them.I don't think all the pieces in this collection are equally strong. There were some that didn't keep my attention, making it feel a bit long. I also didn't find the use of repetition powerful in every poem. Some just came across as distracting to me. I noted "The Red Room" as one example. The color red is so striking that it paints the whole poem right away. At times I thought pieces were overexplained, one example being "Linguistics." I think the end lines identify a feeling of desperation that is already evident throughout the poem. I probably would have appreciated and enjoyed the collection more if it was shorter, but as it is, it was a "hmmm, no" for me. I love that the poet found love after it all, and the poems to and about her partner are a lovely change of pace in this collection, but after all the death and heartache and sadness, they almost feel... Misplaced.

Stefanie Briar is a queer 37-year-old poet and editor from New Jersey. She is known for creating powerful, relatable, accessible poetry and prose that stands out from the crowd. Her goals are to make her readers feel seen/understood and to prove that poetry is not a dead language. Aside from her own author career, she uses her university degrees and 14 years of experience teaching English to work as a freelance editor. Poets who are publishing books of their own hire her to edit and proofread their manuscripts. Fortunately, a great friend of mine showed me The Surrender Theory. And because of that friend and this book, I am better able to understand poetry, but more importantly, I am better able to understand myself. See, I didn't understand poetry before because I was reading it through the eyes of a kid who had yet to experience true loss, grief, heartbreak, or any complex emotion for that matter. These are all feelings that are difficult to truly understand, let alone communicate to others. A simple and straightforward narrative cannot accurately display the effect these emotions have on a person. However, poetry seems to give you the freedom to express complex thoughts and emotions in whatever way you can.Burn", her third book, was released on 4/18/21, and became a #1 New Release. "Burn" is bold, fiery, passionate, and powerful in its poetic journey through the multitudes of life, self, and love. Most of the book's poetry uses fire metaphors, imagery, and/or allusions. Stef cites "Burn" as the book that "put her on the map" as a modern poet. Unfortunately, Caitlin Conlon's 'The Surrender Theory' was more of the latter than anything else to me.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
  • Sold by: Fruugo

Delivery & Returns

Fruugo

Address: UK
All products: Visit Fruugo Shop