timeless poetry from a friend

This is an amazing poetry chapbook from one of my very talented friends studying literature with me at my university! Showing up to class on a normal day to find a large box of Emma's freshly printed and published chapbooks was such an exciting sight! I took one off her hands on the spot and immediately started reading. I wasn't able to finish the entire book until yesterday, and it's beautiful, haunting quality has been on my mind ever since. I loved many things about the structure and stylistic format of this work, especially since it chronicles a woman who is unable to "stay dead," living through tumultuous times in history as a solitary and quite lonely entity. I loved how each poem managed a distinctly different tone while still possessing that immortal woman's unique voice bleeding through the words. I also loved how each poem speaks of love, that despite the unimaginable reality of being trapped within the all-encompassing prison of time without anyone existing quite like you, love can still be on one's mind and fuel them forward. All of the different poetry styles that mirrored cultures as well as the unique passing of time through the eyes of the immortal narrator were also very enjoyable and stylistically beautiful. Overall, there is something more close and personal about reading the literature of someone you have been learning and studying alongside of, whose short stories and other poetry you've offered suggestions for and critiqued, whose personality you get to see shine in classroom settings and beyond. I'm very glad to be able to say "I knew Emma McCoy when..." and am looking forward to reading the many other pieces of art she will undoubtedly publish. :)


The collection's beautiful concluding lines:

"I'll start from the beginning / and tell you the whole thing / Just in case."

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