{"id":6683,"date":"2026-06-29T13:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6683"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:52:11","slug":"collected-poems-2005-2025-by-michele-mcdannold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6683","title":{"rendered":"Collected Poems 2005-2025 by Michele McDannold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Engaging, enriching poetry that says thank you to the world for the experiences that have brought them to the page<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Michele McDannold\u2019s Collected Poems 2005-2025<\/em> spans not only two decades of poetry but also a myriad of forms that give her poetry linguistic and visual significance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some poems address the role poetry as a literary form and as an artistic necessity plays in society. Other poems photographically capture every day moments one might take for granted. In others, the modern world\u2019s reliance on technology is discussed along with how that technology has stripped away genuine human connectivity, leaving so many individuals with questions of what sort of life they have. These poems are real, raw, confessional, and keenly observant.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Relying on structural and linguistic simplicity, \u201ctonight i need to let go\u201d is a beautiful, liberating poem. It relies on clever linebreaks like \u201ci can\u2019t shake it \/ like that landslide \/ song\u201d<\/em><\/strong> to create movement and fluidity within the poem. The second stanza strangely, yet necessarily, centers the poem:<\/p>\n

\u00a0 until the universe
\u00a0 has decided
\u00a0 i\u2019ve learned this lesson
\u00a0 well enough.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This placement acts as a dramatic shifting point, but it also provides a unique message about one\u2019s acceptance of turning points and circumstances. In the final stanza, however, nature becomes a salvation, a refuge, a place where choice and opportunity strike a brief balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cwhat a fuckin\u2019 life, right?\u201d is an immediate, necessary poem. The speaker describes life and humanity as \u201creduced to the \/ communications \/ over wires.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> These lines are powerful in how they distill life and humanity\u2019s connections into something as small and basic as a wire. A sense of loss centers the poem when the speaker declares that the map they seek is missing. The loss deepens as the poem concludes, since single words\u2014\u201cyou \/ are \/ here\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u2014form the poem\u2019s final lines. Thematically and structurally, the poem works well to communicate not only the larger, collective sense of loss that has deepened due to technology, it also emphasizes the loss of the sense of one\u2019s self individuals experience as society\u2019s reliance on technology and social media platforms grows.<\/p>\n

McDannold\u2019s poems are a bit like a Lana Del Rey song: they balance gentleness and grittiness to form a surreal dream based on reality. The words and lines flow across the page smoothly and adeptly, adding a dreamy, otherworldly component to many of the poems. Their emotional and intellectual power lies in how adeptly McDannold utilizes the various forms, line lengths, and images to convey the edges of life where most people will not dare to venture, let alone solidify in writing.\u00a0 Even Steve Buscemi receives a poetic nod, showing McDannold\u2019s gift for finding inspiration in obscure places.<\/p>\n

The post Collected Poems 2005-2025 by Michele McDannold<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Engaging, enriching poetry that says thank you to the world for the experiences that have brought them to the page Michele McDannold\u2019s Collected Poems 2005-2025 spans not only two decades of poetry but also a myriad of forms that give her poetry linguistic and visual significance.\u00a0 Some poems address the role poetry as a literary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6683"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}