There Is an Anger That Moves

by Kei Miller

Diverse in theme as well as form, this new collection explodes onto the page with a maturity and dynamism rarely seen in such a young poet. Using language full of unique beauty and charisma, Miller writes everything from love poems to biblical chronicles, exploring themes such as conflicting identity, home and family, and the spirit of his Jamaican ancestors.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, ebook

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Kei Miller was born in Jamaica in 1978. He completed an MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and a PhD in English literature at the University of Glasgow. He works in multiple genres - poetry, fiction and non-fiction and has won major prizes across these genres. He won the Forward Prize for poetry and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. He has taught at the Universities of Glasgow, London, and Exeter. He is presently Professor of English at the University of Miami.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) I didn’t like this quite as much as The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion, which I read in 2015. That collection stood out a bit more for its use of Jamaican patois and slang. Here Jamaican heritage is contrasted with life in the UK and USA (e.g. “The only thing far away” and “Where we might fit”), and prophecy and scripture are frequent points of reference. However, as in Zion, these are broken up by one more frivolous-tending poem with a delightfully long title: there it was “When Considering the Long, Long Journey of 28,000 Rubber Ducks”; here it’s “In praise of the revolutionary properties of ice cream, but in particular, the flavour Chunky Monkey.”

Favorite lines:

“I would write about the love / of men and the fear of stones / which in my country is the same thing.” (from “The Broken (I),” Part II)

“In the evening, people stand / in the frame of their apartment windows / like a pack of cards spread before me.” (from “New York poem (2006)”)

“my grandfathers were / a writer and a preacher, and they meet inside me.” (from “Second Book of Chronicles”)

“Ula-May, keeper, interpreter and dispenser / of rules, read the Book of Leviticus once a month. / She believed only in laws that forbade, / none that allowed, so she did-not / more than she ever did.” (from “An allowance for Ula-May”)

[Areeb Ahmad (Bankrupt_Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I am giving up on prophecy. I tried,
but there were no earthquakes at the end
of my sentences, or hurricanes
in my vowels; not one knee weakened
at the sound of my warnings,
and there was no ash, no gnashing
of teeth, or sombre bells. After everything
Jamaica is still Jamaica, the city
still a city of pulpits big as skyscrapers
and every prophecy a billboard,
large but inconsequential.
So I'm giving up; it isn't worth it.
Carrying disaster on the tongue was always risky
if one day you became interested
in the flavours of mustard,
the texture of oatmeal,
all the silent things we do
with our mouths."

// The Silent Things


Having now read one book each from Kei Miller for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, I can affirm that my love for him only grows. The poems here are subtly crafted, tilt more towards quiet and intense moments than blockbuster punches. This isn't to say that Miller holds back but the power is disguised, it sneaks up on you. Faith undergirds the collection, belief & disbelief. He draws on the idea of home & being away from it, Jamaica & forced to be far from it. What is most striking are all the women, it's a celebration of them, their lives and sacrifices, their honour and grace, their resilience and spirit.

I haven't read many poets who heavily do sequential poetry and looking at all his other collections, Kei Miller is one of them. So I am particularly impressed by how these poems stand on their own yet fit into the sequence, the whole more than the sum of all its parts. A somewhat uneven collection but still intensely admirable. Excited to see how he evolves.

[Missy J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very personal collection of poetry. In 2017, I spent a year reading Jamaican literature and I've read Kei Miller's Augustown, The Last Warner Woman and The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion. This was one of the books that I couldn't find at the time, but the book cover is so beautiful that I always kept an eye out for it. The book cover moves. I'm not a big fan of poetry, but The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion (2014) blew my mind, it was amazing, discussing the post-colonial world and identity. It had a strong theme and the poems flowed into each other, telling a story. There Is an Anger that Moves is an earlier work of Miller published in 2007. There is no overarching theme, but different topics that are personal to Miller are addressed - being Jamaican, being Jamaican in the diaspora, growing up in a religious society, being gay in a society that doesn't accept homosexuality and being true to one's identity. I think for readers, who have never read any Kei Miller yet, it will be difficult to understand these poems, unless the reader is Jamaican and shares some of the personal issues. My favorite poem was "For the girl who died by dancing," it reminded me a lot of the misconceptions of dancehall in Jamaican society, especially among the upper class and the conservatives. All in all, it's a personal set of poems by the author and does not have a single over-arching theme. Instead, it discusses various topics and dedicates several poems to people in the author's life. It's like his introduction to the world.

[James F]

A short and somewhat uneven collection of poems by Kei Miller, less focused on one idea than The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion. Most of these poems I liked, some didn't say much to me.

[Caitlin]

"Love is how our skin breaks against each other,
how we bleed into each other; how we heal."

[Georgia James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very personal collection of poetry, exploring the intersections of Miller’s own identity. In particular, there was a huge emphasis on religion as a grounding practice in diasporic life, presented as a constant source of identity whilst other aspects of the self seem to shift. This had some beautiful writing and thought-provoking sentiments, but didn’t quite live up to ‘The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion’ for me. Still a very decent read.

[Lawsonia Manhas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book of poetry! Would highly recommend.. There was a lot of Christian themes / imagery, which were a bit alienating to me, but I think would be really meaningful to people who grew up Christian or otherwise have more of an understanding of the religion. That said, “The Book of Genesis” in this collection is one of the most beautiful poems that I have ever read.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently, I have been sampling an author previously unknown to me -- two books of poetry of which this is one, and a novel. Jamaican by birth through early adulthood, after college, Kei Miller went abroad to England, Scotland, and the United States for advanced training and opportunities in literature and writing. In that regard, his poems and stories portray in part the feelings of being in an unfamiliar place and of being considered strange by those in the new land. Miller attempts to be a centrist, to argue both sides, to see what each side can learn about the other.

While these poems lack a grand unifying theme as in the story-like collection published later, The Cartographer Tries to Map A Way to Zion, he published these at a young enough age, perhaps 30-ish, to remember closely his emotional connections with caregivers and island people. It's written before he's gained enough experience and success beyond the shores of Jamaica to loosen the attachment of his memories. If as a reader you just want to be acquainted with a collection rich in Jamaican, then this early work may give you taste for the country and for Miller. If as a reader you want to experience his maturer work, which might offer more pleasure, then his newest novel, poems, and essays might be more stirring.


[Earlier review: This book of poetry I intend to pursue further (reread several more times) and to review again during 2017's Jamaican literary excursion. The author of the collection, [author:Kei Miller|707250], grew up in Jamaica and graduated from The University of the West Indies prior to his living and teaching abroad.]

[Melody]

I shall not rate this book, just because it feels a bit embarrassing rating works by my current teacher. It is not to say I did not enjoy reading the collection, in fact it's the opposite. Very insightful and accessible, especially to a baby-poet like me.

[Gail McConnell]

Forgive the old woman who only sees
confusion in the wild
rotations of your head &
the in/out butterfly of your thighs.
She could not imagine how,
in the helicopter swing of red braids,
you were being lifted high.

-from 'For the girl who died by dancing'.

[Eefje · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great poetry! I'd want to give 4,5 stars if that were possible.

[blake jessup · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I read this I was gathering resources for a unit on rebellion and how honest critiques of the past and authentic reflections on one's own experiences with dominant culture are essential to the survival of democratic, participatory culture. The second time I read this I was at Prevail:Union Coffeehouse in Montgomery, AL just days after the dedication of the former marble drinking fountain the Buller's had preserved in the hope that it would one day find its way back to the Kress and spark conversations between parents and children that reflect the violent truth of Jim Crow and the continuing horror of AMERICAN APARTHEID. On the revolutionary properties of Ben and Jerry's chunky monkey is a brilliant analysis of one's various clashes with culture and the insidious ways in which whiteness asserts itself to frame consumerism,sexuality, and politics.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I could give 3.5 stars since I enjoyed this more than some other books I gave 3 stars, but Miller's Fear of Stones collection got 4 and I enjoyed that infinitely more so that rating wouldn't feel justified at all

[S. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kei Miller's poetry touches me with his personal portrayal of alienation and faith.

Personal favorites in this collection:

How we became the pirates
The only thing far away
The Broken (I)
In praise of the revolutionary properties of ice cream, but in particular, the flavour Chunky Monkey

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
3.5 really - this took me a while to work through and I found it to be a hit and miss collection but some of the poems really were stand out such as The Death of a Fish Woman

[Becky Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘I would tell you how for months
I stopped writing or opening doors
because it was me, on the other side,
waiting to be let in.’

[Capt. Late to the Party · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Review to Come*

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is so movinngg, so beautifully interwoven, so artfully complex.

kei miller, you are a poet. kei miller, you are a god. it's the same thing.

[Katariina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Country: Jamaica 🇯🇲

I read this as a part of my challenge to read a book from every country in the world.

[Shira]

Faith streams in and out of these poems, though equally it's about much more - like judgements, like belonging, like noticing small things. Kei managed to give me a grasp of what it is to experience faith - I say that without believing in something like a god myself (at least, I think I don't) and that is an amazing achievement. Also, the way he manages to put injustice into words that leave you grasp for air, is incredible.

Still, like with his collection 'The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion' (and poetry in general), I'm left with the feeling that I didn't grasp the meaning of many of the poems, not knowing how to enjoy them just like that, unfortunately. Therefore I'm giving 'just' 3,5 stars, even though I would recommend everyone to read these poems.

Part of the poem 'What the evangelist should have said' p.40

"[...]is like when de river come down just like suh
and you find yuself at de bottom,
slow breathin unda de surface [...]
[...] - salvation
is de man with arms like a tractor
who reach in fi pull you out of de river,
press de flat of him hands gainst your belly
and push de river out of you."

[Katie Bowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection that moves across landscapes with a sense of awareness about human chronology: or the order in which situations and feelings unfold occur in transience. Miller's sequences build on one another with precision. Poems take turns that lead to surprising places, mirroring the movement of the book as a long poem too. In V in "The Broken (II)": "Straight lines on a map are decisions / made by men who knew nothing / of mountains or lakes or the spread / of aunts and uncles, or of language." And this poem that feels transient, crossing imaginary borders of place, ends in a place far more personal, and still universal in experience. More cheers for Carcanet Press!

[Matthew Hittinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sequence master.

[Anita Sethi]

Kei Miller, Jamaica: writer, professor of creative writing at the University of Glasgow

[P.D. Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, spiritual, uplifting, intense, calm, cool, collective, flowing and deeply satisfying poetry. A wonderful read from start to finish. Highly recommended.