What Grace Read - "25 Poets Under 25 : Time You Let Me In

What Grace Read - "25 Poets Under 25: Time You Let Me In"

This post is an ode to the month  March, otherwise known as (For my lit teacher) Poetry. I wasn't quite a fan of poetry, alright..... I loathed it. That was at least till I read all the poems ( Every last one of them) in this book. As my literature class is being forced to find a book on poetry ( We literally couldn't eat lunch till we found a book), I managed to stumble across this little gem. And truly, i'm glad that I found this before anyone else. So, as lunch was beginning soon I decided that it's now or never, and walked to the librarian to get it checked out. During lunch I decided to at least skim through it ( A little thing of mine, I have to at least read a page of a book so I want feel bad) and landed on this poem called "Overlapping". It was perfect. It literally gave me these little butterflies of happiness in my stomach and the next class I practically ran to my lit teacher excited on my poetry book. We sat and read the poem together ( I know, I sound like a teachers pet, but IT WAS THAT GOOD). So after reading the first poem, I sat down and told myself " All the other poems are going to be this good, read the book". At first it seemed I was forcing myself to read the poems, but about halfway I was enjoying reading them. I was enjoying poetry. After finishing the book (and falling in love), I decided to make my own poem for our poetry slam at school. And ironically enough.... It was about how I hated poetry ( But I don't. shhhhhh.....) and didn't place ( Everyone who placed had a sad depressing poem). Anyways, back to the book. Read it, or just read a few poems. Each poem is truly different, each poet has their own character. The poems brought across teen angst and life in general, letting you relate to them. Or as the book says it " They are inspiring, talented, stunning, remarkable, wise, they are also fearless, depressed, hilarious, impatient, in love, out of love, and pissed off" . Even if you don't like poetry. READ IT. 

The poem that got me to read each and every poem: 

Overlapping - Nicole Guenther

Our atmospheres shift

starlight differently. We filter

different color skies. You mix 

my colors. Once primary, I tangle

into purple, orange, green.

Share: give me a tablespoon

of blue and i'll give you a hand

full of yellow, like sunshine

spilled on carpet -- purified

by layers, our invisible trophospheres,

mesospheres, stratospheres.

Give me some pink 

and i'll laugh and smudge

it on your cheeks. Your ears 

will blush. Tap my shoulder,

aim a camera and catch me

mid-smile, oblivious, before I can hold

up my reflexive hand and say, no!

Catch the flash when the shutter

exposes the dark interior

to our radiant lights, the heat 

of our colliding thermospheres.

Let me peer out at the world

through your lens (maybe i'll shudder,

or gasp, or tilt my head in question.)

Let me see how your blue

is my turquoise and my orange

is your gold. Suddenly binary

stars, we have startling 

gravity. Let's compare

scintillation--let's share

starlight. 

(THE FEELS ) 

When I read this poem I think of this.  ( I did not take this photo)

What Grace Read : How to Love

How to Love by Katie Cotugno

“I think of how it felt to lose him, slow and painful and confusing, and how it felt to wonder if I'd ever really had him at all.” - Reena

Summary from Good Reads :  Before: 
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind. 

After: 
Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.

What I think ( My lame excuse of a book review)

Originally, I didn't buy this book. My neighbors gifted it to me for christmas. Usually i'm not a fan of the whole lovey dovey contemporary teen drama books that every girl in my school has been raving about. Most of them carry some John Green book around with them.However. ...This book made me feel very conflicted, and it is quite hard on to say what I think about it. If I had to rate stars then I would give it a 3. The reason why, because the whole problem of the story..... Sawyer. The book started out strong, and in a way Reena was similar to me. She's ambitious, born into a religious family, funny, tends to stay away from the popular party scene, and enjoys quiet afternoons. But then she falls in love ( EASILY) with the non caring, dysfuncitonal Sawyer Legrande. I mean he screams bad news all over. I mean I have nothing on him, I just don't like him. The first part of the book I enjoyed the most because Reena literally acted like she hated Sawyer. Which good on her. He knocked her up and left. Her dreams of going to Northwestern and traveling were ruined.  She finally got over him, put on her big girl panties, and got a new kind and caring boyfriend ( not some drug addict, band playing, ladies man) and then came around Sawyer again. Slowly she falls in love with him... Which like the whole book from the start was totally predictable. The thing I hated the most was probably how Reena went back to Sawyer. It was almost like she needed him, and relies on him to function. And that's basically how the story ends. Her going on a trip and ironically Sawyer going with. Maybe I wished she would have stayed with Aaron, but then she basically cheated on him and I realized she doesn't deserve him. I find it funny how I hate Sawyer so much, and how the author wrote him. It's almost like shes mocking me. It was an all around well written story in Reena's view. I personally liked how everything went from past to present. I love books that do this. Overall this is an easy read, and if you enjoy love stories that are predictable, go ahead and read this.