Phases

Suubi's debut collection boldly negotiates the moon's phases, love, and the cycles of lives connected across generations. The collection's opening quote from Audre Lorde, concluding with, "I feel therefore I can be free," establishes a north star for the reader. The poems that follow lay bare the experiences of desire, longing, rejection, grief, and healing. Within the slim, quick lines and lyric form, there's a shift from piece to piece, revealing more or something different with each turn. The effect is not dissimilar to the moon's partial visibility when observed by the human eye. We cannot see the entire face of the moon, or the whole arc of this collection, at once. Instead, we examine shadow and light, gradual movement, and trust what's obscured. While the poems are immediate and vulnerable, there's a historical memory here, too, and responsibility to the future. Suubi writes, "i speak for my daughter / i speak for my granddaughter / i speak for my great-granddaughter / & they rise through my voice." Suubi's voice and the music of Phases will resonate with many.