Bright Dead Things: Ada Limon

the power of her language and imagination is extraordinary.

The book is incredible was disappointed by the condition when it arrived.

Ho acquistato questo libro per fare un regalo di compleanno e la persona che l'ha ricevuto ne è rimasta molto contenta!

Bright Dead Things is a collection of poems by Ada Lemon, and they depict various parts of her life split into four chapters. In this book we get the beautiful ambiguity that poetry is known for, but what ties each poem together is the prominent themes throughout the book. The most powerful and observant themes are that of change whether that be of location, emotions, or physical. This get’s illustrated by Limon being placed in a new environment, and she notes how different the setting is compared to her previous one. She uses animals and landscapes to highlight what these changes are, and how she compares to them. This is really prominent in the first two chapters where she focuses on her move to another state. We get poems of orchards, horse races, and going out on dates. A theme that corresponds with the theme of change but stands on its own is the theme of heartbreak. Chapter two gives us insights on her breakup while the third tells us about the loss of her mother. What I really enjoyed was Limon’s constant depiction that change was this brute, relentless force that’s inevitable. But this wasn’t due to these monolithic catastrophes that only specific people can relate, rather it was breakups, the loss of a family member and moving that was the focus which gave everything a relatable touch. A small detail that I noticed and adored was seeing the confidence in Limon’s self-image grow over the book. In the beginning she writes lines that make her seem timid or weak, but with a desire to be stronger. Towards the middle has lines that allude to us that she’s ready to empower herself despite her circumstances. Then in the last chapter we get these declarations of self-positivity. A favorite of mine was this line in her poem Service which was “Girl, no one’s going to tell me/ when to take a leak, when to bow down,/ when not to bite. So, right then, in the dim lights of the strange garage, I lifted my skirt and pissed/ like the hard bitch I was.”/. Lines like these that sprinkled throughout the last chapter really solidify the transformation that Limon went through and gives the book a narrative that comes to its completion.Let’s take a look at one of Limon’s poems titled The Whale and the Waltz Inside of it. This poem is not only one of my favorites from the book but also one that captures the ideas of change I’ve mentioned. It starts off with three images that the poem focuses on ;moving to places such as Alaska, whales ,and a woman going out on her own. They each intertwine with one another, sometimes cutting each other off. While this may seem like several separate ideas, they actually work together to create the point about how the author feels about the change of location. I think this becomes clear on page 83 where she tells an anecdote of a woman traveling to Alaska and using a goat for a potential offering to hostile bears. She uses this story of animals and traveling to compare it to how lost one can feel and needs the experience of others to know it’s a safe path. Here’s an excerpt from the poem:What I mean is: none of this is chaos./ Immigration, cross the river, the blood of us./ It goes like this: water, land, water. Like a waltz./ I am in no hurry to stop believing we are supposed/ to sway like this, that we too are immense and calling out./With these lines at the end we get the message of the poem. To Limon, the whales represent these strong beasts that have gone through life alterations. They have evolved from land animals, to sea ,then back to water and Limon sees this not as a chaotic feature but one that is natural. She compares it to a waltz because of it’s “clockwork”-like cycle: always moving around and around. This use of hyperbole is meant to explore her acceptance that her drastic changes are supposed to happen, and while she is frightened by the ambiguity it's still something she takes on. Given the fact that the chapter previous to this one focuses on the death of her mother, this seems appropriate. But it can also be seen as a comparison to her breakups. What supports this idea is that she mentions that whales are capable of intimacy and suffering, and the waltz is a dance move meant to be performed by a couple.

Limon's poems flow with an ease and a fit into their own sense so perfectly that it makes every one a pleasure to read. The Kentucky poems are marvelous. I could hardly stop reading them and put my light out at night.