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Book Review

Publisher's Note:

In this wise and often moving collection of poems, Sarah Strong unflinchingly explores what it means to live in a world undergoing irrevocable transformation whose magnitude we barely comprehend. The poems range from an imagined view of our planet from space as it might appear millennia from now, the gaze "a human one / who doesn&;t really know the fullness of his powers / or their limits," to a series of linked persona poems about the Dust Bowl recounting our destruction of the Great Plains where human dreams of plenty destroyed the ancient fertility and stability of the land and heartbreak and denial contended with bureaucratic insolence. Some poems are elegies for what we have lost or are losing, others describe with tenderness and compassion the human consequences of such destruction. Together they offer a rich variety of styles and unforgettable images: starving bees swarming into a desert sky, a cow on her way to the slaughterhouse, a stray dog that &;hung around the yard with those sad eyes, / triste como Jesús, then all night baying, / as if he was in love. But it was thirst.&; Strong's powerful poems offer us, if not consolation, at least a way toward comprehension in an age of loss, loss that reveals both our grievous innocence of our planet&;s fragility and the compelling urgency of our human hungers.…

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The Mouth of Earth: Poems

by Sarah P. Strong

Reviewer: Lydia
Genre: Fiction
Recommended Age: 16+

Overall Book Review:

To me, part of the beauty of poetry is the translation of metaphors and sorting out what the author is trying to get across to readers. This short collection of poems is often about the earth and humanity, the state of both, and the direction that we’re heading. Sometimes, these poems felt desolate and unhopeful; however, it is clear that the author is passionate about how the world is changing and how humans are part of that change. 

One poem is all about the diner experience. If you order eggs, they probably came from a chicken living an unhappy life, in a small cage. Ordering coffee becomes unethical once you realize what the true cost of that one cup really is. Another poem tells the hardships of the people who moved to the Great Plains. How they once held dreams in their hands and all that is left now is crumbling, dusty earth. Some of the poems are vaguely Biblical, others are more of a personal narrative.

After finishing this book, I went back and re-read parts that I just didn’t feel like I had absorbed completely. I think I will keep reading this book off and on to really let the words sink into my brain. Often, I find that I think of poetry as something soft and gentle, but with Mouth of Earth I felt a sort of urgency and importance, which I think is what the author of this collection intended readers to feel.

Review of an Advance Digital Reading Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by University of Nevada Press


Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 religious exclamation; 1 religious profanity; 2 scatological terms. 

Violence/Gore:  A death occurs and is mentioned; Joseph Stalin is mentioned and the many deaths he oversaw, mention is made of starving people and the large number of deaths; a poem with a mouse biting a boa constrictor and the snake dying from the bite being infected is included; a mention is made of sheep being killed and burned, their bones in heaps and blood on cliffs; a man is mentioned to have died of suffocation in his vehicle and later found. 

Sex/Nudity:  A mention of a baby being fed by mother, milky nipple mentioned; naked toddlers are mentioned; a poem mentions the desire of a couple to kiss and unclothe each other, porn magazine centerfold mentioned; a man is mentioned to flirt with his wife in one brief scene.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death; loss; tragedy.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Smoking mentioned; hangover mentioned; wine is mentioned.

Overall Book Rating
Profanity/Language
Rating:
4
10
Violence/Gore
Rating:
4
10
Sex/Nudity
Rating:
44
10

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About the Reviewer

Lydia
Books and reading have always been an important part of my life. When I was very young, my grandma was the library director at our local public library. Years later, after she had retired, I became a librarian at the same library and worked there for several years before taking a part-time job at a local coffee shop, which gives me more time to do what I love, to read and to review books! A few of my favorite authors are Aimee Bender, Diane Chamberlain, and Curtis Sittenfeld however, I will read almost any book I come across! In my spare time you can find me reading (of course), volunteering at a wildlife animal rehab, or hanging out with my three house rabbits.

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