Ante body

March 21, 2022
The genre-bending second book from Helal (Invasive Species) offers a poetic sequence that examines systemic injustice and the psychological effects of contemporary inequalities and calamities. In lines that eschew standard punctuation and syntax rules, the poet circumambulates the topics of capitalism and patriarchy, using the white space on the page to self-consciously push the boundaries of poetic form. On one such page, "joe the firefighter is" appears at the top, and "this is use of white space" at the bottom. The opening poem "why I so wise" remarks: "it wasnt so much a doubled consciousness, but more akin to a doubled gaze." Elsewhere, Helal offers wisdom, wit, and social commentary: "it's still going badly./ but i intend to make the most of my time," and "im retiring as a human and becoming a/ parrot where i only repeat men's lies (sal-/ ary: commiserate with experience)." In the prose poem "the days is numbered," Helal offers an alliterative sequence: "the days is numbered startling semiannual saccharine sensitivity to sentencing in a season of severing and severances to so called civil servants of streachery and separation." Moments like these can be hard to parse, but Helal's always intriguing use of form will engage readers who enjoy experimental poetry.

July 1, 2022

This latest collection from the Whiting Award--winning Helal (Invasive Species) explores the impact of migration, discrimination, and global pandemic in a capitalist society, showing how language can be used as a tool of oppression as well as a source of joy. A captivating aspect of the collection is Helal's use of the poetic form the Arabic, which she invented as a response to the linguistic discrimination experienced from U.S. institutions. In this form, poems are read from right to left: "? cages in children the put they why know you/ fly can we know they because." In other poems, such as "Bring Back Are Girls" ("It bejins in Berlin/ A Historical Case"), incorrect spellings are almost unnoticeable, showing how meaning can transcend the formal aspects of language like orthography and grammar. The humor and wordplay found throughout the collection don't keep readers from fully experiencing the weight of the themes being addressed. VERDICT Helal is a powerful voice in poetry, and this newest work does an excellent job of challenging readers to think differently about society. Those unfamiliar with Helal's work may benefit from reading the author's notes before diving into the poems, to get a better understanding of the collection and the formatting.--Sarah Michaelis

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