Reviews of QUIVER: spoken words returned to the page

 

One of the things that you're going to need to do when you pick up Quiver, a collection of genuinely marvelous poems by Albuquerque poet Kim Adonna, is open your heart. And you won’t find this to be a hard “ask”, as the modern expression goes, because in these pages she has torn open her own chest and she’s handed her heart, pulsing still, to you. Her carefully crafted, precise poetry takes you into the dark woods, into the atmosphere over cities where heroes fly, into dust-covered nooks where dreams are transcribed and then prescribed as a kind of hopeamine for those discerning enough to pick up this volume. Somehow, Kimberlee has taken the hurts and pains of a (to say the very least) impossible childhood and of a life living past and through pain and distilled them, combobulated them into works of musical wonder. You're invited to listen and sing along. Quiver proves Kimberlee to be a careful, precise and full-throated oracle. It was my honor to have published one of her works in BOMBFIRE and I am proud to see what she has accomplished. This book is nothing short of necessary.

-Rich Boucher, Poetry Editor at BOMBFIRE MAGAZINE and author of All of This Candy Belongs to Me.

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Kimberlee Adonna’s book, Quiver, is so honest that she is sometimes unkind to herself, as expressed in the poem, “I Can Hold My Stomach Like a Bag of Dough.” This is, of course, what poetry should strive for.

 

Ms. Adonna admits to loneliness and a need for real love. She works through uncomfortable and sometimes dark relationships gracefully and with little vitriol, but she never succumbs to platitudes. She is charitable to her alcoholic mother and loving to her former boyfriends and girlfriends. Even when writing about them, she finds surprising ways to express her feelings. She tells us in her poem “Imagine a Bird”:

 

Apologies for my harmful reactions to our differences

landed on tired ears.

Replicated arguments and threats of leaving outweighed

moments of peace and reasons for staying.

 

Her poetry never takes the easy way out or seeks self-justification.

           

Perhaps my favorite poem in the book was “Glide: An Ode to Spiderman.” She writes:

 

            An obligation to humanity pressed against Spiderman’s skull

            like a moral migraine.

 

I love how she describes Spiderman as he transforms back into Peter Parker:

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Like the Universe itself collapsing into plastic glow-in-the-dark

stars stuck to a bedroom ceiling.

           

Without the Erratum, I would have been confused by the mistake in the layout of the poem on page 3. But we are all human and this can be easily corrected in subsequent printings.

 

I highly recommend book of poetry for anyone who wants to swim in Ms. Adonna’s wonderful language and deep honesty.

 

-Deborah Coy, retired editor of Beatlick Press and author of Beyond the End of the Road and Super Crone (coming soon)

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Bear witness to this woman’s Life.

When I open

this book of poetry and poetic prose,

this book of stories and reflections,

I find a thread,

that takes me to the inner chambers

of my own heart.

That place where memories reside

in deep pools of darkness,

dormant, not gone.

Ready anytime for that certain line,

that certain phrase,

that spark of reminder,

that whispers, or shouts,

Yes, I know the place this poet speaks of

in the silent language of her written word.

As I listen to my voice reading

the words of Quiver, I know

when I have been touched

by the invisible sound of recognition.

Symmetry in feeling. Balance with inner peace

grown and flourished through the center

of the maelstrom.

Eschewing all boundaries

within the spirit of compassion

and understanding,

Quiver holds the arrow

that will take aim for your heart

when you start turning these pages.

The Quiver between hearts meeting will be heard.

 

-John Ashbaugh, author of EarthTribe Gather – Outline for a New Mythology (in English, Spanish, and French; Mercury HeartLink)
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To read Kim Adonna's Quiver is to shine, soar to the heights of the Peruvian Andes on calloused feet, and remember the dreams of being young and free and wanting to grow up to become Spiderman. There is a full, compassionate heart, a steady calming voice that speaks through these poems, and these poems need to be heard as much as read.  Don't be fooled by that voice that says reading out loud is something you outgrow.  Some words are better said out loud, and many of them can be found, like arrows in this full Quiver, just in time and ready to be knocked and set free.

 

-Don McIver, author of Mud in the Stacks:  a Poetic Celebration of Bob Dylan

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