Review: "God Themselves" by Jae Nichelle

 

God Themselves by Jae Nichelle
Published March 2023 via Andrews McMeel Publishing
★★★

if you still tweet / which is praying since you still / say something & no one / listens (11*)

3.5 stars. Nichelle's collection makes for a fascinating muddle of wordplay and structural play, recurring themes and prayers typed out using predictive text. It's clear that she is a lover—a connoisseur—of words, and I pulled out line after line to think about later.

some people need the cover of dark / to be themselves & that explains / why you only text when my dinner / is tupperwared, cold / & my bonnet's on. I know what you seek— (65)

a good listener is just a bad conversationalist. so my / arguments with god are one-sided long paragraphs to / which I see read at [day/ time]. (102)

Poetry remains a somewhat elusive language for me—I can hear the beauty in its rhythms, but it's hard for me to follow it past a certain tipping point; at the same time, I value having to work to understand it, and this is doing that for me in spades. So not every poem resonates (which is fine and expected and frankly preferable), but if I save every line here that does resonate, or raise questions (again: prayers typed out using predictive text), it'll be a long time before I run out of food for thought.

I have been so tenderly held / Tomorrow, will you remind me? I have been so / tenderly held (115)

*I read a review copy, so quotes and page numbers might not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley.