My Black Girl Magic & Other Wondrous Findings: An Anthology, by Rashida A. Royster
My Review: ★★★
This is a book of poetry from an author who clearly delights in writing poems and whose heart is mostly joyful. The poems are light, playful, and unpretentious. Pick up this book if you need a dose of optimism, inspiration and pick-me-ups. There are also some good messages of empowerment here.
I laugh because it feels like the author was looking right at me here:
Strokes of Genius Strokes of creative genius Come in the wee hours of the night. Ok, but I've got to figure out A better, balanced schedule.
A lot of the poems are playful and relatable like that. There are too many haiku for my liking; I don’t personally think English lends itself well to haiku – the constraints usually result in under-developed thoughts. There are also a lot of very short poems, many a single short sentence. It feels a bit like this is a collection of ALL of the author’s writings rather than a selectively curated collection of her favorites. I think the book could have been stronger if it were the result of choosing even more selectively. But I enjoyed reading it, and you will, too.
