Reborn

Book, 2019

Premise - A collection of poems that encourage readers to be kind - both to the world and those who surround you, and perhaps more importantly, to oneself. By practicing kindness to ourselves and our loved ones, we can heal from past wounds either experienced individually or as a society. Poems are divided into 5 parts: Embrace Moments of Darkness; Let the Light Peek Through; Say No Sometimes, Be Kind All times; Fight Like a Warrior; Finale - Not the End.

Review - I am so proud of my friend Amy Hsuan Chiu!!! I remember when she first told me this book was going to be published (probably around November of last year??) and that it was to be a book of poetry. Between now and then, I remained clear with her that I did NOT want a preview of any of the poems. I wanted to read them after the book was published so they could be a surprise.

 Yet I got to witness the entire process, even if I hadn't read any of the material. I saw the strain of first-author publishing, capitalism overriding art, and what stressors exists in an author's life outside of their book. And witnessing that process made the final product extra special. To know I had some influence on the content as well was humbling. The quote I introduced to her, from Dead Poets Society, introduces this book, as if she's passing on the wisdom that I got. I helped pick the cover design and the subtitle. I also got a shout-out in the acknowledgments section (thank you!!)

Of course, I do not for a second believe I had any direct influence over the poetry itself. That was all her, and I was very excited to read what she had produced. Her poetry is intended for an everyday audience, though may have particular resonance for people with similar lived experiences being from Taiwan, and being multicultural. This is sort of the "Rupi Kaur" approach to poetry, that I have mixed feelings towards. I enjoy Rupi Kaur and the mainstream accessibility of her poetry, but it is so overly simplistic that it leaves little to no room for interpretation. I may be a bit pretentious is saying the poetry I enjoy tends to be complex. I like looking specifically for rhyme, meter, structure, and an intense creativity with the English language.

Luckily, Amy's poetry meets a happy medium. There is quite a range of poetry, with some being more literal and simplistic, and others being more abstract, stream of consciousness, or metaphoric. There's some material in there for everybody (I tend to gravitate towards the more complicated poems personally, but that wouldn't be fair to the rest of readers who may feel differently).

Translated poetry has also been hit or miss for me, considering the importance of each individual word having meaning in whichever language the poem is being presented. Sometimes I read translated poetry and fear I'm missing out on whatever brilliance exists in the original. In Reborn, some poems are written in English, while others were written originally in Mandarin and then translated. This manages to be very successful because the Mandarin poems are translated by herself (with no intermediary translator), because she is fluent in both languages. She alone knows the meaning and purpose of every individual word, and thereby makes the best translations.

The common themes to her poetry surround kindness, one of the most important values a person could have. I particularly believe the importance of kindness to one's self, especially after trauma, failure, defeat, or heartbreak, is underappreciated. Self-love is how we are reborn. And the more you love yourself, the easier it is to find love for others.

As a rule, I don't provide a ranking for material written by someone I know personally, but this book will definitely be treasured.

Quote - "The concrete fact is that / time is a thief, / stealing the permanent forever" <-- I'll be adding this to my quote collection!

What to read for - My favorite poems tended to be the ones about time (And I know About Time is a favorite film of both of ours), particularly the poems "One Day", "A cup of time", and "About Time." Though other favorites are "Like You, Like Me", "Good Person; Bad Person", "To Children", "Give Me a Flying Penguin", "The girl dreams of", "What do you want to be when you grow up" and "Pink is not the girl"

If you liked this book, I'd recommend the sun and her flowers!

Written by Amy Hsuan Chiu
Published by New Degree Press