Reader's Diary #2112- Tunchai Redvers: Fireweed

Tunchai Redvers' Fireweed Poems is a powerful and beautiful collection of poetry. Through these poems she works through identity, bigotry, colonialism, racism, and more but in such a way that it's uplifting. She permits people to justify their own rage and sadness while showing paths forward, like fireweed that tends to grow after a forest fire. There's a sense of accomplishment at the end.

These poems are accessible; short and void of those annoying words that only poets use. In that way the book reminded me of Rupi Kaur's work. But unlike Kaur's, I found Redvers' use of language more playful and rich in figurative language.

Another feature I especially enjoyed was the placement of the titles at the end of the poems instead. I found it gave me a chance to decide what the poem was about on my own with an invitation to reflect on it given a possibly new context.