Title: AfterwardsAuthor: Reagan Myers
First Published: August 17, 2021
Publisher: Button Poetry
Pages: 72
Genre: Poetry
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:
Synopsis:
Afterwards is a book about the things that come after trauma. It encompasses the different kinds of grief― primarily the loss of a friend to suicide, but also the loss of an important relationship, and dealing with some loss related to family. There are frank discussions of mental illness and the spectrum of emotions that come with moving forward.
Review
Losing a loved one is hard, but the loss of a loved one to suicide is even harder. It’s difficult because it’s preventrable, and it’s hard to explain the feeling of helplessness afterward. This collection of poetry details the grief that comes with losing a friend, but it is other things too. Myers explores the loss of family, depression, and sexual assault. There are a handful of good poems, such as The Girl Becomes Gasoline which was what made me decide to pick this book up.
Several of the poems reference the death of Mac Miller, who had died of an accidental drug overdose in 2018. Myers mentions how Mac Miller had passed around the same time that she had lost one of her best friends to suicide, talking about plans unfinished. What happened to Mac Miller is tragic and he should certainly be remembered, and maybe I just don’t understand American celebrity culture, but the fact that he was brought up over and over felt out of place. But I digress, as a whole, the collection is pretty decent. The themes of the book are true to life and I appreciated Myer’s willingness to share her authentic self.
Quote
“I don’t know when I became a space to be filled. My thigh an open lease, my neck a wishing well, and his hot breath, a coin, a demand, cast into me.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Reagan Myers
Reagan Myers is a second year M.A. student studying Composition and Rhetoric, with an interest in communities and modern poetics. She holds a B.A. in English with a minor in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Reagan is the youngest Grand Slam champion to ever come out of Nebraska, and was the first woman to hold the title in seven years. She’s been to two National Poetry Slams as a member of the Omaha team, founded and represented the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational for two years, and was the Woman of the World Poetry Slam Nebraska rep for 2016, in addition to being a member of different teams for regional competitions. You can see her work on Button Poetry, which has accumulated over 2.5 million views, and has also been written about in The Huffington Post, Bustle, and Everyday Feminism. Her forthcoming full-length poetry collection, Afterwards, will be released in August 2021.
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