Name: Heavy is the Head
Author: Sumaya Enyegue
Genre: Poetry &Prose
My Rating: 4.5/5
Trigger Warning: This book deals with topics of sexual assault, violence against bipoc, and struggles with mental health. please take care.
Review:
“Black girl must write poetry so other black girls can relate.”
The poem speaks of crimes against women, slavery, racism, the pain and wounds that the people carry, and the scars that remain in their bodies and brains.
“tell me about the bad blood and I will tell you that there’s no such thing as good blood. only thick blood. only blood that’s forced to stay—only gaping wounds.”
Here, the poems are a form of passive aggression, a rage originating from the pain and discrimination that generations of people carry within, in their bones, in their skin, and in their blood.
“Why is everyone I love so fluid?
How do they slip through my fingers no matter how tightly I close my fists?
Admitting I’m sad feels like a betrayal to all the things I once survived, everything I once outlasted.
Everything I’ve ever called beautiful is now collateral damage.”
This book found a special place in my heart. Each poem is unique, each has a profound effect on my soul. I could hear her cry and silence; her poems are relatable and evoke the feeling of oneness through the same situations we have been through.
[WHEN A BLACK GIRL DIES, THE LAST THING TO DECOMPOSE IS HER HEART.]
The poet uses different styles of poetry to speak her mind. I think it is a book one should read, not because this is a intriguing book, but because i believe that the poet’s words deserve to be heard, to be read and to be understood.
I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for an advance e-copy of this book. My review and opinion of this book is no way biased in any way.
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