Cynthia Atkins, Candice M. Kelsey, Serenity Hayashi
Let me tell you about three books I love by Cynthia Atkins, Candice M. Kelsey, & Serenity Hayashi!
More information about the reviewer: Rachel Turney is a former art reviewer for New City Magazine. She is currently the writer in residence at NKollectiv and hosts the Trident Women’s Writing Group. She runs Poetry (in Brief), an online reading series and magazine. She is a staff writer for Bareback Magazine and a poetry reader for The Los Angeles Review. She is the author of two books: Record Player Life (the b-side) and Retired Wannabe Club Kid. Sign up for her newsletter and learn more at TurneyTalks.com.
I was so moved by the authentic voice of Cynthia - How do you catch a moonbeam in your hand? (Sound of Music) that I wrote a poem after just one of the many poems that stuck with me.
Still-Life With God by Cynthia Atkins
Saint Julian Press
An after presented as a review…
Nociceptors by Rachel Turney
after My Body Is a Vessel by Cynthia Atkins
My body is a vessel of right and wrong
as told by sinners’ lying mouths.
My body is invisible. Secrets scratched in
little tally marks over my Swiss cheese thigh.
My body has listened painfully
to slow speech and monotony.
Long ago, this body held little child hands
with a sister who now doesn’t exist.
This body, my body, feels.
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The Biology of Leaving by Candice M. Kelsey
Rockwood Press
Candice leads us to ask ourselves - ARE WE DOING ENOUGH? This is a timely collection of personal and global conflict. A short and painful read, Candice’s latest chapbook is a scathing review of herself and society.
“But what I want to say is he better/ get up in their masked faces. Do it/ for Gladys, Coach P, Keith, Renee, Alex:/ that he better f*** with them since he has/ the protection of being white and male/ in America, that he can use his privilege/ to help the vulnerable, fight injustice./ I guess what I want to say is that I’m a coward.” - excerpt from “Don’t Fuck with ICE”
(I wrote a full review for Candice’s collection, which I actively pitched it to a few mags. This is an excerpt.)
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Breaking My Own Heart by Serenity Hayashi
serenityhayashi.com
Favorite lines (compiled by Rachel Turney)
“My stomach grumbles/ for the sound of your voice/ and sandwiches” - from “Sandwiches”
“I would sit with a thousand poems/ Unfinished unrefined unpublished” - from “A Thousand Cranes”
“I’d rather sit in solitude/ than have to pander to his desperate attempts/ of filling the unfillable” - from “Sounds Familiar”
A note from Rachel: I am looking for folks to review my two books with small presses, too! Record Player Life (the b-side) and Retired Wannabe Club Kid. If you can write a review for me and help spread the word about my collections, please email me for a free digital review copy. Thank you. My books are also for sale on my website: TURNEYTALKS.COMturneytalks@gmail.com
*I make graphics on Canva and do not use AI to write.
