Electric Arches

This collection is not quite like anything I've read before, which is always a delightful experience in poetry. The book is an ode to the experience of black women and children, and a hopeful reimagining. Ewing experiments in mixed media with displays of modern-looking art, some black pages with white font, different fonts of varying sizes, and handwriting all lend to a vivid, textured, and emotional experience. “appletree” is one of the best poems I've read this year.

I think I found this title through Samantha Irby's Insta. Electric Arches is a very personal collection of poems that explore Eve L. Ewing's life and, partly, a love song to Chicago. I feel privileged to have had a peek into Ewing's world, and partly ashamed because I also felt I did not have permission to be there. Some of the poems were over my head, I'm not going to lie. Some I read multiple times and still just saw a string of words and no meaning. But that is a me problem, I'm learning.
What this collection reeks of is power and strength and I envy and respect it.