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What Have I To Say To You
Poetry. Whip-smart, funny, and intimate, WHAT HAVE I TO SAY TO YOU is Megan Levad's much- anticipated second full-length poetry collection. Taking as its impetus the William Carlos Williams phrase 'the stain of love is upon the world, ' the book wanders through the ordinary world of lovers, sisters, high-school football, and agriculture in an unflinchingly interrogative voice. Levad is an intellectual and theorist to the core
104 pages, Paperback
First published October 28, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 4, 2019
This gets referred to as "a collection" of poems, but it's not really. I think it is one piece, although it ranges across a continent of emotions. Levad is funny, sarcastic, smart, sentimental, overwhelmed by love, all in the space of a few pages.
Early on she writes
I have taken a vow
not to use a simile
or metaphor
when I speak of our love
And that does set the stage for the clean, direct speech that shapes this book. She does get in some metaphors from time to time, although no similes come immediately to mind. Many of the poems are addressed to a "reader," who is either the lover or, indeed, the reader, the person looking through the poet's eyes at the experience.
Reader,
I admit
I am overdue
for a bang trim
I know I know
my hair is in your eyes
Levad is great at this kind of thing, this blurring between poet and reader. It is a measure of the success of this book that I was completely convinced. It felt intimate, but not in the sense that I was looking in on something. Intimate in the sense that I was actually involved in something, in the seeing, in the feeling.
I think you should plan to sit down and read this book in one go. It doesn't take that long, and then the whole thing can do its work on you.
Early on she writes
I have taken a vow
not to use a simile
or metaphor
when I speak of our love
And that does set the stage for the clean, direct speech that shapes this book. She does get in some metaphors from time to time, although no similes come immediately to mind. Many of the poems are addressed to a "reader," who is either the lover or, indeed, the reader, the person looking through the poet's eyes at the experience.
Reader,
I admit
I am overdue
for a bang trim
I know I know
my hair is in your eyes
Levad is great at this kind of thing, this blurring between poet and reader. It is a measure of the success of this book that I was completely convinced. It felt intimate, but not in the sense that I was looking in on something. Intimate in the sense that I was actually involved in something, in the seeing, in the feeling.
I think you should plan to sit down and read this book in one go. It doesn't take that long, and then the whole thing can do its work on you.
March 24, 2021
2021 is my "Year of Reading More Poetry" so when my friend sent me this book I was really happy and appreciative.
Megan Levad's poetry is like a gut-punch, in a good way. You should read it... and read more poetry.
Megan Levad's poetry is like a gut-punch, in a good way. You should read it... and read more poetry.
January 15, 2020
Exceptionally clever.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews