It Seems Like a Mighty Long Time

by Angela Jackson

Angela Jackson’s latest collection of poetry borrows its title from a lyric in Barbara Lewis’s 1963 hit single “Hello Stranger,” recorded at Chess Records in Chicago. Like the song, Jackson’s poems are a melodic ode to the African American experience, informed by both individual lives and community history, from the arrival of the first African slave in Virginia in 1619 to post-Obama America.

It Seems Like a Mighty Long Time reflects the maturity of Jackson’s poetic vision. The Great Migration, the American South, and Chicago all serve as signposts, but it is the complexity of individual lives—both her own and those who have gone before, walk beside, and come after—that invigorate this collection. Upon surveying so vast a landscape, Jackson finds that sorrow meets delight, and joy lifts up anger and despair. And for all this time, love is the agent, the wise and just rule and guide.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2015

Reviews

[Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this review helpful in coming to grips with this book, which I read slowly over the course of a couple of months. Jackson is a powerful poet addressing important subjects that are outside of my own milieu. https://mosaicmagazine.org/it-seems-l...

[Tehnehn Kaijaah Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's a wonderful and beautiful writer but I did not connect with a lot of the subject matter. Though the poem about Emmett Till was amazing and I really loved the poem dedicated to Trayvon. Its beautiful work but the subject matter did not move me. But I assure you its a solid body of work.

[Fátima López Sevilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a read.

I am not a big fan of this kind of poetry where it seems it is just random linebreaks in the middle of sentences, but the themes and the way Angela Jackson can evoke images... wow.

Favourites are "Pendulum" (to Trayvon Martin), "A thousand pages", and "An African reunion".

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection