Review: The Universe Of Us by Lang Leav
"I don't want to be the one who tucks you into bed - I want to be the reason why you can't sleep at night."
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Let me begin by saying that I am generally not a fan of modern poetry. My favorite poets are Emily Dickinson, John Keats, and Sylvia Plath. Modern "spoken word" often makes me cringe. I loathe that within the past few decades, the idea that "anyone can write poetry" has somehow come to be.
Because that is far from the truth. Writing poetry requires you to spill your blood on the very pages you're writing on. Some will argue that prose, too, requires this - but poetry cuts away all the frill and fancy and leaves the pages bare-boned, only keeping the words that matter most. And hopefully, the result is soul-splitting lines and snippets that stay with you long after your eyes have left the page.
No, not everyone can be a poet - you either have it or you don't.
Despite the hate for this new wave of "Tumblr-esque" poets like Leav (see also: Clementine von Radics - who literally found her fame on Tumblr), I am convinced Lang Leav HAS it. That undefinable, rare, un-fake-able IT.
Leav doesn't follow any specific form, sometimes the poems are but a single sentence. They very rarely rhyme. But it reads out loud like poetry, and it hits you where it's supposed to hit.
This was my first time reading Leav's poetry, and I look forward to going back and indulging in her previous collections. My copy is full of underlined bits and many pages are dog-eared.
I savored this book like a good pie - creeping into the kitchen in the middle of the night, scooping forkfuls of poems out one by one, letting them sit and warm in my mouth before swallowing them.
Perhaps the main reason why I loved The Universe of Us so much was because I read it at exactly the right time in my life. When I started, I had fairly recently exited a relationship and was still feeling quite bitter about (okay, maybe I still am). It made me lovelorn and enhanced my misery in the best, most beautiful way.
Leav's words often made me feel like they were coming out of my own head - and truly, I think that is the best thing a writer can ever hope to accomplish. This book helped me grieve, allowed me to wallow in my own heartache, and yet, also gave me hope for a future, great love.
"If you had allowed it, she could have been your whole world. All you had to do was open the door. All you have to say was, come in".
And now, I wait for someone else to invite me in.
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