The Vanishing Act & The Miracle After

by Mirabel

The Vanishing Act (& The Miracle After) is an existential meditation on grief—the kind of grief which pins you down and minimizes you. The first half of the collection, The Vanishing Act, captures the ruminations of a mind which feels trapped physically and spiritually. The imagery in this section blends magic and violence as the speaker confronts systemic issues as a middle-class woman, a person of colour, and a survivor of abuse. The second section, (& The Miracle After), offers a fresh perspective on recovery. As the speaker revisits images of bodily harm, objects previously used for violence are brought back to a state of benign normalcy. With the arrival of spring, the speaker contemplates renewal and the paradoxical nature of taking agency of her life, while knowing the act of survival is made possible only because of miraculous intervention.

Genres: Poetry

100 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2023

About the author

Avleen K. Mokha, also known as Mirabel, is an award-winning poet based in Montreal. Originally from Mumbai, India, Mirabel holds a B.A. in English Literature and Linguistics from McGill University. Mirabel was the 2019 winner of McGill’s Peterson Memorial Prize for Creative Writing. Mirabel’s poems have appeared in carte blanche, Yolk Literary, Dream Pop, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, and more. Her writing has been supported by the Quebec Writers’ Federation Fresh Pages Initiative for promising writers from underrepresented backgrounds. Mirabel’s debut poetry chapbook, Dream Fragments, was published by Montreal’s Cactus Press in Fall 2020; the collection received critical acclaim from The League of Canadian Poets and PRISM International. Her first full-length collection, The Vanishing Act (& The Miracle After), is forthcoming by Guernica Editions in June 2023.

Reviews

[Kamilė | cobwebshelves]

"A person is not
unlike a thing: a rose, a hip, a shore.

Like everything else,
it is here or
it is remembered."

This was quite an interesting reading experience. While the poetry collection is short, you can't help but take your time with each of the poems. Although I honestly didn't really catch the meaning of some, a few of them, such as "Handle With Care", "Language Barrier", and "Twisted Fate" (cited above), really spoke to me. Mirabel's writing is enthralling, and I'd be very keen to read more of her works in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Guernica for the arc.

[Matthew Rettino]

Brilliant debut poetry collection.

[Victoria]

This was beautiful and poignant. Being familiar with the neighbourhood/city that she grew up in, I could see some of the influences in her poetry. Some of the metaphors were so beautiful and impactful, I specifically highlighted this one:
" so I break open
my spine like
a fortune cookie,"

Some of my favourite poems include:
- Handle with care
- Stain
- Cautionary tale
- Language barrier
- Twisted fate
- Little living beings
- Omnicience

[Kasi]

Great selection of poems on a variety of topics, ranging from more macro level observations to more micro/personal level musings. This collection had a full range of emotional representation. I personally really resonated with the poem entitled Gaslighter.

Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own

[Maria]

A lyrical, intellectual, and absorbing poetry collection. Mirabel has a way with words, and phrases that will definitely stick with me for a while.

[Christa]

Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.


Vanishing Act is a deeply personal book of poetry surrounding womanhood, "tragedies you wish you could have avoided", memory and mothers, certain aches and weights we feel forever, time and the stains we can never relinquish, despite that time. And in the Miracle After, these grievances and stains are comforted, as the speaker talks themselves down, talks down the living and non living things that surround them. The speaker finds solace in staying still, in losing one's mind, in being somewhat broken and aging. This speaker and this poet are incredibly wise and honest, as they seem to be working through the most universal problems of identity and life itself on the page, never truly finding resolution that we all crave. If you're someone that appreciates this unresolved conflict, the simple conversation and confession of grief, you will enjoy this book.

What I loved:

This is one of my quirks, but I am particularly enamored with first lines. And the first lines of this book are some of my favorites ever. I love most when first lines are images: "you cupped together / a bowl of grapes" or "there is something moving / behind the stove. It might have a tail", However, there are very statements to some of these that I love equally as much: "So you fucked it up in a way / you didn't know you could" or "In the end, the breath may be / the last to leave". With first lines like this, I never wanted to skip around to the next most exciting thing.

The personification through the second half of the book is spectacular. We give animals and inanimate objects grief and a voice. Moments of dialogue (and rhetorical questions), even from these non-human characters, were disorienting in the best way. The best example is in "Call and Response" where the rooms begin talking to the speaker. I am not sure what this madness is stemming from, but I think this disorientation is purposeful.


What I didn't love as much:

I think there could be more variety in the title of poems, as most of them were one worded or extremely short. While there is great variety in the form, the titles were not as exciting and it was very easy to skip over them. "By the Laundromat on Sainte-Catherine Street" broke this mold and I love the title very much! "Semblance of a Narrative" was another one of my favorites because it felt playful and informed the poem.

Moments I loved:

"I want to be / more than an animal / happening to itself"

What the Living Do in its entirety.

"In the new world; / my tongue is pink & my name is King / and I need not wear my womanhood / like a flag of surrender"

"If I could repel you / towards hope, I would"

"I find a God / who is not an active listener, / who takes too long to reply to prayers, / who appears only to disbelievers"

"Though labor is necessary, / it is not purpose"




Merged review:

Vanishing Act is a deeply personal book of poetry surrounding womanhood, "tragedies you wish you could have avoided", memory and mothers, certain aches and weights we feel forever, time and the stains we can never relinquish, despite that time. And in the Miracle After, these grievances and stains are comforted, as the speaker talks themselves down, talks down the living and non living things that surround them. The speaker finds solace in staying still, in losing one's mind, in being somewhat broken and aging. This speaker and this poet are incredibly wise and honest, as they seem to be working through the most universal problems of identity and life itself on the page, never truly finding resolution that we all crave. If you're someone that appreciates this unresolved conflict—the simple conversation and confession of grief—you will enjoy this book.

What I loved:

This is one of my quirks, but I am particularly enamored with first lines. And the first lines of this book are some of my favorites ever. I love most when first lines are images: "you cupped together / a bowl of grapes" or "there is something moving / behind the stove. It might have a tail", However, there are very statements to some of these that I love equally as much: "So you fucked it up in a way / you didn't know you could" or "In the end, the breath may be / the last to leave". With first lines like this, I never wanted to skip around to the next most exciting thing.

The personification through the second half of the book is spectacular. We give animals and inanimate objects grief and a voice. Moments of dialogue (and rhetorical questions), even from these non-human characters, were disorienting in the best way. The best example is in "Call and Response" where the rooms begin talking to the speaker. I am not sure what this madness is stemming from, but I think this disorientation is purposeful.


What I didn't love as much:

I think there could be more variety in the title of poems, as most of them were one worded or extremely short. While there is great variety in the form, the titles were not as exciting and it was very easy to skip over them. "By the Laundromat on Sainte-Catherine Street" broke this mold and I love the title very much! "Semblance of a Narrative" was another one of my favorites because it felt playful and informed the poem.

Moments I loved:

"I want to be / more than an animal / happening to itself"

What the Living Do in its entirety.

"In the new world; / my tongue is pink & my name is King / and I need not wear my womanhood / like a flag of surrender"

"If I could repel you / towards hope, I would"

"I find a God / who is not an active listener, / who takes too long to reply to prayers, / who appears only to disbelievers"

"Though labor is necessary, / it is not purpose"

[Shawna Butler]

This collection of poems highlights grief and how one can recover from grief. There are two sections in this first collection The Vanishing Act focusing on grief and the second section (& The Miracle After) offers more of a fresh perspective on recovery. Mirabel’s poems are written very powerful, and she can deeply express her experiences in womanhood. Which are both good and bad and some of these experiences she could have avoided.

Avleen K. Mokha, also known as Mirabel, is an award-win-ins poet based in Montreal and originally from Mumbai, India. This poetry book is her first full-length collection, prior works have appeared in carte blanche, Yolk Literary, Dream Pop, Class: A Journal of Poetry, and more.

This collection had a full range of emotional representations. Mirabel finds solace in staying still, in losing one’s mind, in being somewhat broken and ageing. Both Mirabel and her poems are incredibly wise and honest, as she seems to be working through the most universal problems of identity and life itself on the page, never truly finding the resolution that we all crave.

The personification through the second half of the book is spectacular. Animals and inanimate objects of grief are given a voice. In the second half of the collection called The Miracle After, these grievances and stains are comforting. Mirabel talks down the living and nonliving things that surround her. These poems work on multiple levels: physical pain, mental melancholia, and psychological fear. that you cannot ignore the truth hidden inside it.

If you’re someone that appreciates this unresolved conflict, the simple conversation and confession of grief, you will enjoy this collection.

[Seher]

Thank you, NetGalley and Guernica Editions, for the chance to read and review The Vanishing Act by Mirabel.

As a whole its a decent collection, but a mixed one for me. I loved some poems much more than others such as 'Handle with care', 'Better Days', 'Work Song', 'Purpose', and 'Freefall'.

I'd check out her work in the future.

Overall rating; 3.5 stars.

[Akilesh Sridharan]

This is once again a solid, unique poetry book — in fact, two poetry collections in a single manuscript.

These poems, more than 50 of them, have fresh take and perspectives on personal and public life, blending anger, sadness, annoyance, vulnerability and deep voidness with satirical jibe on general worldly views of followers of herd mentality, including God.

The first poem Ideation itself stuck me — weird, whacky, and wild in its tonality:

"The idea ... like a word whispered in a vacant room"
"You've got a green thumb, so leaf through my pages"
"Patience is a bargain with a barbaric god"

In Diffusing Tensions, she says "anger is not a weapon in feminine hands/merely a childish threat of detonation."

In Pulp, she makes a sly yet true remark on modern-day media and journalism: If only truth and a news report were one and the same.

At the penultimate stanza of Backturned Me, my favourite line comes:

"Luck ... is a loveless marriage with a better future"

A Relative Visits, the final verse in The Vanishing Act, is a deep, moving story of a working-class Sikh family.

The second part starts with Twisted Fate, where Mirabel compares thoughts to tumours.

In Haunting, a frustrated/vexed yet determined woman's voice is heard as she tells "I need not wear my womanhood like a flag of surrender/My lover leaves wet myths on my wanting skin".

One of the simple and best poetic lines comes in Change in Seasons: "Grief is an unwelcome guest who masquerades as pleasure".

In Crossroads, the poet nonchalantly throws in a deep zen and stoic philosophy line —"Listening is the place where healing will begin". Similarly, in Better Days, it's "I keep my distance from the distance".

Regarding Justice, the narrator takes a jibe on judicial system:

"Justice wears the face of the daughter you would rather not claim ... then settles in for a dreamless sleep"

The later poems handle complex personal issues, especially affecting immigrants. The poetess describes her experience as an immigrant in an unknown land and people.

These poems work on multiple levels — physical pain, mental melancholia, and psychological fear (psychosis) — that you cannot ignore the truth hidden inside it.

A compelling must-read contemporary poetic work with a new rejuvenated voice.

[Emma]

This is a difficult poetry book to rate. On one hand I understod the poems and the feelings behind them, but on the other hand I did not like them. I did not feel any sort of feelings towards these poems, but I can apreciate them.

[Ilianas Bookshelf]

Wow! this was a beautiful book about grief and finding light at the end of griefing. Very authentic and raw.

[Nat]

I really liked this poetry book. It is split into 2 sections. The first half is about grief and the second half is about recovery. Each of the poems described a particular feeling with such power that the imagery is clear in the reader's mind.

[christian favreau]

this is a great collection. The highlights for me were the poems “Illegible,” “Aphantasia,” “Debarrasser,” “Pulp,” “What the Living Do,” “Little Living Beings," “Crossroads,” “Mirror Image,” “Freefall,” and of course the powerful closer that is “The Absence of Guidance Makes Me Sing.” So, you know if half of the poems are huge standouts, it’s a work that resonates with you. I enjoyed reading this a lot. Mirabel has so many emphatic turns of phrases that come out of nowhere despite being set up thematically so subtly that just hit you: “I wish I could heal for you; / but I am not the wound,” “The myth of disbelief sometimes / catches up to me,” “although / the pain remains alleged,” “what wouldn’t I give to take off this / sticky coat of responsibility”—I could go on. For me, those moments are when I go: “oh, oh, this is a poet who is really thinking about things deeply, and the personal and universal are being intermingled in profound and provocative ways. It’s masterful; it goes beyond just being a good writer. As in, the poem’s aren’t just technically good (which they are). I think Carolyne Van Der Meer wrote “a poet to watch” in a quote on the back of the collection, and sometimes that’s just a phrase publishers put on a book because it sounds captivating, but it’s true. Mirabel should feel really proud of this work.

[Carolyne Van Der Meer]

The Vanishing Act (& The Miracle After) is a moving treatise on grief—going through it and coming out the other side. The secret to Mirabel’s success with this collection is her ability to fully engage with the reader. In many poems, the speaker addresses the reader directly, creating an intimate space where we are party to—and part of—her grief and recovery. At the same time, we can’t help but bring our own grief to the reading experience, forging a kind of exchange, if not only in the processing of emotion. Divided into two distinct sections separated by a prose poem, this collection offers not only map through loss but also a recipe for renewal. Follow “the silent riot of [Mirabel’s] existence” and you will see for yourself.

[Jade Wallace]

Like the title, the poems in this book are lyrical, dreamy & abstract.