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Hyperbole
Hyperbole, Belinda Rule's debut full length collection, contains the poems from the 2019 Anne-Elder-commended chapbook, The Things the Mind Sees Happen, as well as a careful selection of previous work spanning the past ten years. These are tender, funny poems about family estrangement, sexual violence, ageing and death.
- GenresPoetry
66 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2021
7 people want to read
About the author
Belinda Rule
12 books10 followersBelinda Rule is a Melbourne writer of fiction and poetry.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 30, 2022
This is a collection of 37 evocative, subtle, strangely moving and occasionally punch-in-the-gut painful poems. I liked their somewhat courtly style and elegant language. My favourites are:
Poem of a new driver.
'When I first get the car, I pull all the fabric
of the city towards me ...'
I love this, the metaphors of textiles (cloth, satin), the sense of speed.
Mum, again.
This is not sentimental about a relationship with a mother but it is also forgiving.
'the creases on your old woman's face ...
... a spider's web
in your wicked image.'
Men.
'I only like imaginary
men...'
One of the best opening lines of any poem ever. And so relatable. The poem is short, pithy, hilarious and true.
Sex is okay but
Wow. This one hits home. All the experiences, all the things.
'most sex is shit'
An antidote to all steamy romance novels. And why we love fix-it fanfiction. With the emphasis on 'fiction'.
The note from God.
This haunts me still. God leaves a note on the kitchen table.
I also underlined these lines from other poems:
'Now that my mother, though living, is lost to me'
'like switching on the light
in the night train, you will never
see through the reflection again.'
What powerful line breaks. What powerful brave poetry.
Poem of a new driver.
'When I first get the car, I pull all the fabric
of the city towards me ...'
I love this, the metaphors of textiles (cloth, satin), the sense of speed.
Mum, again.
This is not sentimental about a relationship with a mother but it is also forgiving.
'the creases on your old woman's face ...
... a spider's web
in your wicked image.'
Men.
'I only like imaginary
men...'
One of the best opening lines of any poem ever. And so relatable. The poem is short, pithy, hilarious and true.
Sex is okay but
Wow. This one hits home. All the experiences, all the things.
'most sex is shit'
An antidote to all steamy romance novels. And why we love fix-it fanfiction. With the emphasis on 'fiction'.
The note from God.
This haunts me still. God leaves a note on the kitchen table.
I also underlined these lines from other poems:
'Now that my mother, though living, is lost to me'
'like switching on the light
in the night train, you will never
see through the reflection again.'
What powerful line breaks. What powerful brave poetry.
Displaying 1 of 1 review