I did not stumble upon Jessica’s book rather it was by design, because it is a poetry collection and poetry & verse is a category that is in my Netgalley shelf. I love prose yet cannot run away from a poetry collection fast enough.

Described as exploring a vast insoluble loneliness what struck me most was how I could relate to some of the life’s experiences shared here- there were instances I could picture the seven year old me, the sixteen year old me, the twenty one year old me and versions of my Mother, Aunts, and even Grandmother- their struggles, pains and how much mediocrity and insults they accepted all in the name of keeping the peace.

Like in ‘My Damned Prediction,’ she can definitely see all these, the burden that has been passed on from one generation to the next. In ‘Darkness runs, bare boned,’ speaking of the violence meted against women:

There is nothing that you can do that will satiate a man’s hunger, I promise you. Believe me I’m telling you the truth. I come from a long line of women whose skin became a casket once a man touched them.

In ‘Portrait of girlhood as a door to godhood,’ she shares a question that I did ask once, ‘why not choose forgiveness over violence?’ and I asked ‘which one came first?’

Towards the end of the collection you also get to meet a young girl who yearns to be seen, loved and listened to in ‘Abandoned letters or confessions since college.’

This was a great way to start my day and a subtle reminder that what’s written can still speak louder.

You can buy a copy: here

About the Author: Jessica Thiru is a Kenyan poet who was born and bred in South Africa. Her work appears in Button Poetry’s 2023 video contest, and Querencia Press’s Not Ghosts, But Spirits IV. Burning of Absence is her first book. Her poems explore the morphing space between becoming and noticing. She would like to own an owl that thinks itself a cat one day. You can find her at @leechteeeth on Instagram and @leechteethwrites on Tumblr.