I am one of those readers who, in the past, wasn’t really moved by poetry. Most of what I’ve read I didn’t understand or get, so I avoided reading poetry as much as possible. Mind you, I was exposed to poetry in elementary and high schools and I thought it was boring. I wanted to read fiction and fiction only, I didn’t care about sonnets or haikus (although I find limericks to be fun). It didn’t help that I read a lot of poetry by white authors, many of whom I learned at an early age were not for me. But now at my big age, reading poetry has become more important to me. A few years ago (before Covid), I read Hybrida (written by Tina Chang) and it was the first time I found myself feeling something after reading poetry. I started listening to the poetry podcast called “The Slowdown” and fell in love with the poem “I Watch Her Eat the Apple” from the incredible Natalie Diaz’s collection, When My Brother Was an Aztec. I listened to that poem so many times because I couldn’t get enough of it. Reading Alive at the End of the World gave me the same feeling.

I had already pre-ordered my copy of the book but was lucky enough to get an arc the day before it was to be published. I read it in the middle of the night, with complete quiet and no distractions. Each poem moved me in different ways, which is what I look for when reading them. Saeed (because he is my friend in my head) writes in a way that draws my emotions out with very little effort.

It would be foolish of me to try and come up with a favorite poem. That’s like me trying to pick a favorite song from Renaissance. It is virtually impossible (although “Church Girl” has a chokehold on me right now). All of the poems are great, and I’ve never said that about any other collection except for the collections I mentioned. The intensity of each poem is palpable, allowing readers to truly feel, whether they want to or not.

Alive at the End of the World is a collection you will absolutely want in your private library.

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