Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, torrin a. greathouse
Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, torrin a. greathouse
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Wound from the Mouth of a Wound
Poems

Author: torrin a. greathouse

Narrator: torrin a. greathouse

Unabridged: 1 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/28/2023


Synopsis

A Minnesota Book Award Finalist in PoetryA CLMP Firecracker Award Finalist in Poetry“Some girls are not made,” torrin a. greathouse writes, “but spring from the dirt.” Guided by a devastatingly precise hand, Wound from the Mouth of a Wound—selected by Aimee Nezhukumatathil as the winner of the 2020 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry—challenges a canon that decides what shades of beauty deserve to live in a poem. greathouse celebrates “buckteeth & ulcer.” She odes the pulp of a bedsore. She argues that the vestigial is not devoid of meaning, and in kinetic and vigorous language, she honors bodies the world too often wants dead.These poems ache, but they do not surrender. They bleed, but they spit the blood in our eyes. Their imagery pulses on the page, fractal and fluid, blooming in a medley of forms: broken essays, haibun born of erasure, a sonnet meant to be read in the mirror. greathouse’s poetry demands more of language and those who wield it. “I’m still learning not to let a stranger speak / me into a funeral.”Concrete and evocative, Wound from the Mouth of a Wound is a testament to persistence, even when the body is not allowed to thrive. greathouse—elegant, vicious, “a one-girl armageddon” draped in crushed velvet—teaches us that fragility is not synonymous with flaw.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sruthi on December 28, 2020

Absolutely incredible. Every poem in this collection is razor-precise and, per the review, “demands more of language and those who wield it” in a way that’s utterly electrifying and left me SWEATING.......more

Goodreads review by Basia on June 02, 2021

At the start of "An Ugly Poem," torrin a. greathouse recalls a time when "I edited all / my ugly out, made a perfect poem of my soft & lacquered / mouth." But not any longer. "Now, I'm looking for the ugly of my tongue, / lolling serpent curled in the slick of my jaw..." And what fierceness, what fr......more

Goodreads review by Emma on March 24, 2021

Wound from the Mouth of a Wound was a deeply moving collection that I know will stay with me for a long time. C/W:(view spoiler)[transphobia (challenged), ableism (challenged), detailed descriptions of bodies + bodily functions, abusive parent (hide spoiler)]......more

Goodreads review by Caitlin on September 03, 2024

I picked up this book because I’d read about greathouse’s invention of the burning haibun & was intrigued, wanting to consume more of their work. Though I think some of these poems were a bit too vague for my taste, this was overall a really engaging collection that played with form and language in......more

Goodreads review by 🌜Elliot🌛 on March 27, 2021

Since I’ve wanted to read poetry recently, I asked my dad for some recommendations and this was one of them. I loved it, and it’s been a great introduction to poetry and how language can weave a beautiful picture of someone’s life experience.......more