A METAPHORICAL AND PHYSICAL RESPONSE TO BEING BURIED ALIVE

Poetry chapbooks have never been quite my thing. Granted, I have only read a handful over the course of my college career. But while I can still say that it's not my go-to genre, this chapbook did something that I have discovered I really like to do as a writer. It responds to an ancient story that appears to have little to no similarities to our modern society and religious views in a way that reminds us of how humans can be both terrible and beautiful at the same time. A story about a woman - a mother - being buried alive inside of the wall of a building based on the belief that a soul was needed to keep the structure upright - surely this kind of tale couldn't be relatable to the people of our day and age? Davis does a phenomenal job of retelling this ballad in a manner that gives the woman a voice, responding to the jarring details with her own passionate voice and perspective, and expanding upon the complex concept that is being a woman and existing within a female body. The four parts of this collection (meant to symbolize the four walls of a building) reveal that a story from long ago about the objectification, mistreatment, and destruction of a human life and body can happen in physical as well as mental, emotional, and spiritual ways to countless women in countless ways. Essentially, being "buried alive" can look like more than being cemented into a wall. I would categorize it as slightly political as well as intimately emotional poetry that made me really think about not only the seemingly limitless boundaries of the expression of poetry but also how writers have and can continue to respond to narratives from the past in manners that impact the conversations and sentiments of our present and future.


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One of my favorite lines from the poem "Interviewing Two Girls, Ages 10 and 8, About Being Buried Alive:"

"Would you let someone bury you alive for love?
               8. Hmmm ... no no.
             10. No."

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