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Birthing Inadequacy
In a world where inadequacy is the new norm, Natasha Head opens the door to the struggles so many women face and the many masks they must wear to juggle the roles they've been conditioned to believe are their own. Daughter, wife, mother, provider. Is it any wonder our own daughters are feeling the struggle? In a collection any reader will relate to, Ms. Head gives us truth, uncertainty, and hope; for ourselves, for our daughters, for a world ready to accept our inadequacies as the beautiful, colorful, human works of art we are.
- GenresPoetry
122 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2014
162 people want to read
About the author
Natasha Head
4 books103 followersNatasha Head grew up in Hants County, Nova Scotia, spending most of her youth penning odes to the beautiful countryside and the trouble that can so easily be found when you're too young to appreciate the simple things.
Natasha is author of three collections of poetry. The 2012 Pushcart Prize nominated "Nothing Left to Lose" and the narrative fictional collection, "Pulse, both published by Winter Goose Publishing and her most recent collection "Birthing Inadequacy". Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including "In the Presence of Poets", "Inspiration Speaks" and "Signals From Static".
After spending a year in Northern Alberta, Natasha now resides in beautiful New Liskeard,Ontario...putting her just a little bit closer to the east coast that will forever be considered home.
Natasha is author of three collections of poetry. The 2012 Pushcart Prize nominated "Nothing Left to Lose" and the narrative fictional collection, "Pulse, both published by Winter Goose Publishing and her most recent collection "Birthing Inadequacy". Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies, including "In the Presence of Poets", "Inspiration Speaks" and "Signals From Static".
After spending a year in Northern Alberta, Natasha now resides in beautiful New Liskeard,Ontario...putting her just a little bit closer to the east coast that will forever be considered home.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 23, 2014
Natasha Head is one of my favorite poets: she has a remarkable way of seeing the world and pushing her craft further. And yet she is able to impart wisdom and truth without being pretentious. Her poetry covers issues such as bullying and rape culture, making them personal and real in ways editorials cannot. She relates stories from her youth, one about a stolen bicycle, to the inadequacy consuming our adult lives. The sections, divided into Conception, First Trimester, Second Trimester, Third Trimester, and Afterbirth, have strong themes of love and perseverance throughout. Birthing Inadequacy is an instant classic for me and I have read it twice already. Natasha dares saying what needs to be said and I respect her immensely for it. Perhaps her own words in "At My Alter" best describe the depth of her insight and understanding:
"My mind has been designed to think far too much
Overpowering the strength of the heart
Where the fire of belief is ignited"
"My mind has been designed to think far too much
Overpowering the strength of the heart
Where the fire of belief is ignited"
October 5, 2015
No Inadequacy in Her Poetry
Natasha Head is a talented poet who speaks truth in all its colors with boldness. In “Birthing Inadequacy” she speaks her truth, the truth in observation, the truth that life can hit like hell. Natasha’s brilliant portrayal of the correlation between actual pregnancy and life experience is powerful reality. I know from having delivered two children and being in life’s womb the pains of inadequacy leaves scars.
I have so many favorites, but I will share the ending of Natasha’s poem “Wolf Born.” It is the growl of remaining true to self, of strength, of a steel will to defy conformity.
“I will not be broken nor be made to abide in a society of
sheep
dancing in the face of my blood lust
thinking their safe pasture
will tame me”
Natasha Head is a talented poet who speaks truth in all its colors with boldness. In “Birthing Inadequacy” she speaks her truth, the truth in observation, the truth that life can hit like hell. Natasha’s brilliant portrayal of the correlation between actual pregnancy and life experience is powerful reality. I know from having delivered two children and being in life’s womb the pains of inadequacy leaves scars.
I have so many favorites, but I will share the ending of Natasha’s poem “Wolf Born.” It is the growl of remaining true to self, of strength, of a steel will to defy conformity.
“I will not be broken nor be made to abide in a society of
sheep
dancing in the face of my blood lust
thinking their safe pasture
will tame me”
November 14, 2018
Birthing Inadequacy is a collection of poetry about what it means to be daughters and mothers in a world which has far too often been hostile to females. These are not flowery saccharine poems, designed for comfort They are visceral explorations of harsh realities, delivered with the tightly-honed word economy of Hemingway. Tales told with deftly descriptive brush strokes which Kerouac would have approved of. Many portions of the book (much like her masterful book Pulse) are stories told in the form of poems. Using the conception and birth of a child as the lens, Birthing Inadequacy takes both an intimate close-up view of the perils and joys of being female and a long, mythic look as well. The section divisions (Conception, First, Second, and Third Trimesters, and Afterbirth) and the poem order gives a logical flow and a cumulative power to the book.
Ms. Head is a masterful writer, giving just the right amount of descriptive detail.
The room is shuttered, dark
Pepto-Bismol pink
As though making fun of good cheer.
Beeps, like gunshots in the silence
Echo off the walls
A weak and dying sun
Filters through the blind
Watered down and useless
(from Ultrasound)
She carefully walks the fine line between blunt truthfulness and cynical observation.
Like the vehicles for mistrust
You painted us
We have always done your bidding.
(from The Garden)
Losing sucked.
It showed on the face of every parent
Who screamed from the bleachers.
Desperate for a retirement income
A golden dream.
(from Anything Boys Can Do, Girls Can Do Better)
This is not a safe, or easy book to read. Its raw honesty provoked discomfort for me, as a man, as the poetic lines laid bare the darker truths of what women have faced, and face still at the hands of patriarchal power and toxic masculinity. Poems like Rape Culture, and The Garden burn with righteous anger. Other poems are vulnerable, hopeful, and sometimes tender. As a guy, reading this book had a similar effect on me as did watching Jane Campion's Top of the Lake mini-series. It made me feel something of women's experiences, living in a world very often made dangerous by men. It made me aware of truths that all women know, but men are often unaware of. Birthing Inadequacy covers far more than what I have touched upon in this review, but hopefully, I have piqued your interest and you will order a copy of this excellent book, and experience it for yourself.
Ms. Head is a masterful writer, giving just the right amount of descriptive detail.
The room is shuttered, dark
Pepto-Bismol pink
As though making fun of good cheer.
Beeps, like gunshots in the silence
Echo off the walls
A weak and dying sun
Filters through the blind
Watered down and useless
(from Ultrasound)
She carefully walks the fine line between blunt truthfulness and cynical observation.
Like the vehicles for mistrust
You painted us
We have always done your bidding.
(from The Garden)
Losing sucked.
It showed on the face of every parent
Who screamed from the bleachers.
Desperate for a retirement income
A golden dream.
(from Anything Boys Can Do, Girls Can Do Better)
This is not a safe, or easy book to read. Its raw honesty provoked discomfort for me, as a man, as the poetic lines laid bare the darker truths of what women have faced, and face still at the hands of patriarchal power and toxic masculinity. Poems like Rape Culture, and The Garden burn with righteous anger. Other poems are vulnerable, hopeful, and sometimes tender. As a guy, reading this book had a similar effect on me as did watching Jane Campion's Top of the Lake mini-series. It made me feel something of women's experiences, living in a world very often made dangerous by men. It made me aware of truths that all women know, but men are often unaware of. Birthing Inadequacy covers far more than what I have touched upon in this review, but hopefully, I have piqued your interest and you will order a copy of this excellent book, and experience it for yourself.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews