chicken+lowercase=fleur

by Christine Tierney

chicken+lowercase=fleur is a collection of surreal, alluring, gritty, and often darkly humorous poems about a chubby, picked-on, and at times resilient girl named lowercase from a dysfunctional working class family who learned in her mother’s womb that it’s better to just shut up and take it from everyone, or things will only get worse. Some of the poems in this collection anthropomorphize sunflowers who utter, mostly spit lowercase’s feelings of loneliness and abandonment right onto the shag carpet, and in other poems, sunflowers take on the form of characters in lowercase’s seething world of jaundiced chicken and crocheted doll-head toilet cozies. chicken+lowercase=fleur explores neglect, bullying, body image, and growing up in a family stuck in an endless cycle of depression and bitterness through the lens of a girl whose unusual name defines who she believes she is; less than, lower and undeserving of even a capital letter.

62 pages, Paperback

Published January 4, 2021

Reviews

[Ashley]

chicken + lowercase = fleur is a collection of poetry unlike any other i’ve read. It’s clever and witty. Punchy and powerful. Haunting and raw and the perfect touch of gritty realness that life so often brings a writer’s way. I was impressed with the flow of the poems. The story moves from one verse to the next in a way that is not obvious, but it makes sense. Tierney uses clever word choices and vivid imagery to convey meaning. She draws you in with poems like sunflower’s remains and two little mixed up poems. But I found myself pulled back to several pieces: not that game, fumes, and getting to white.

At times, I felt like I needed a dictionary to understand things. But then, I suppose that is the beautiful thing about poetry. Beyond the nicknames and tricky-spun lines, I still felt connected to the poem.

Some poetry books are made to be devoured in one sitting. Others, like this one, require savoring. I was prepared to sit and knock this book and review out in a day. And while life has certainly interfered with my free time lately, I do not think I would have enjoyed the nuances in the book as much had I rushed through it. This book isn’t for the light-hearted, love poetry seekers. But, if you are looking for something with depth, something that’ll shake you awake, I’d definitely recommend it.

[Gina Troisi]

Christine Tierney’s poetry collection blasted me with beauty, transported me through dark worlds spotted with just the right amount of light. Her fierce, unflinching prose and narrative captured me from the first page, and by the end, left me wanting more and more. Tierney uses precise, vivid language to explore the emotional terrain of lowercase, the female protagonist whose profound depth amid her turbulent family life echoes throughout these pages.

These poems are heart wrenching in the best sense of the word. Their power halted my breath time and time again. The character of lowercase will stay with me for a long while. I leave these pages so grateful for her unique perspective and experience. These exquisite poems are bound together with skill, compiled into an impressive, moving debut collection. I cannot wait for Christine Tierney’s next work of art.

[Melanie Faith]

These poems contain vivid imagery and skilled wordplay that innovate as much as deeply move the reader in this collection of poems about a young protagonist named lowercase and her experiences in a dysfunctional family. At turns fierce and funny, this whimsical and well-made book will feed your intellect and spark your muse’s imagination. A few of many favorite poems to check out (and notice the resonant titles as well) include: “the book of lowercase and a ditty for shmummy,” “listen look stop-stop-stop,” “16 things you should know about the fort,” “even during the silent treatments, they make noise,” “numbering the gruesome,” and “truths + half-truths about sunflowers.” A heartily recommended collection, particularly for poetry and prose poetry and/or flash writers who want to up their own writing game. Not to be missed!

[Adrienne Wallner]

Christine Tierney’s use of raw, uncompromising language in chicken + lowercase = fleur
exposes the reader to the fabulously grotesque world of the sullied and ever-abused lowercase. With Tierney’s exacting pen, it’s as if the words themselves become the jagged pieces of her lurid characters; the nasty, ever present bully; the sticky sickening of the undesirable family dynamics; the vicious and unrelenting judgement of society; and the ever-present, always malicious inner-critic.

I found voices in chicken + lowercase = fleur akin to the vexing voices inside us that point out what we don’t want to see, say what we don’t like to hear, and show us the raw truth when we would rather take a more digestible remedy. It made me ponder the diversity of coping mechanisms we construct to combat the subtle horrors and opportunities for judgement we encounter by just being human.

I love how this book “breaks the rules,” allowing the tone and form of each poem to be precisely who and what they need to be, no matter how unnerving, keeping each turn fresh and unpredictable. I have read and reread this stunning debut collection and each time I discover another unexpected turn, unsettling detail, and inspiring use of language.

Simultaneously beautiful and devastating chicken + lowercase = fleur will wake you, shake you, and demand that you listen to the persistent and necessary voice of the neglected lowercase and of the unsung loners and rejects everywhere.