Where to Begin?

Like other art forms, there is poetry for everyone! Yet, knowing where to begin can feel like an overwhelming endeavor for new poetry lovers. Below we have a book sure to help you begin your poetic journey!

Finding poetry that speaks to you is much like searching for new music. Maybe you’ve only ever heard heavy metal and conclude you don’t like music. But if you don’t hear jazz, hip-hop, rock, or classical, how will you know for sure? Sometimes it takes finding the right genre, artist or particular song in order for you to uncover your own personal taste.

Poetry has just as much variety! So we completely understand how intimidating it can be to find work you love. Fortunately, this book has proved to be one of the most universal and potent collections for young, new readers everywhere.

Richard Siken’s collection Crush is one of the best literary pieces you can read as a beginner

Crush is one of the top poetry books if you’re a young person looking for poetry that expresses your deepest longing. Poems by Richard Siken hit you in the gut with imagery that grows from tender longing to vicious savagery.

Siken refuses to mince words throughout Crush. Each page encourages the gripping and squeezing every ounce of feeling from a particularly queer perspective. For any new poet, the bleak lines are impactful, powerful and wonderfully comforting!

Who is Richard Siken?

Canadian poet and filmmaker, Richard Siken, was born on February 15, 1967. He is the author of Crush, winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. Copper Canyon Press released his second collection of poetry, War of the Foxes, in 2015.

Everyone has a chance to become a lover of poetry because of Richard Siken’s beautifully crafted poems! As you indulge in Crush, one of the most outstanding poetry books for beginners, deep insights will make you feel both exposed and unconditionally accepted.

Crush is a collection of narrative poetry clung together by a meaningful, golden thread. Reading poetry that transcends the story form and dives into the crushing depths of the human experience, such as this, counts as bearing witness. In that case, analyzing and discussing these poems also counts as giving testimony. Consuming Siken’s poetry is like performing a holy deed.

Crush by Richard Siken

Crush is a book on seeking love in this world where it may either save you or lead you to destruction. Siken writes about both risky and loving relationships, grief, second chances, regret, and hopes.

The collection illustrates scenes of violence as well as love next to one another. Each page, covered in symbols of hands, vehicles, and ferocious, bloody displays of affection, captures the fear that frequently follows the submission to vulnerability. Siken writes about the commonplace in a way that feels profound, even if the subject of horror and love that can accompany it forms the book’s core.

In a way that can terrify or comfort, Siken finds a way to put words to little yet profound human feelings. The idea is to urge readers to confront things that ordinarily go unspoken.

Why Begin With Crush?

The words are raw and delicate, making them easy to feel.

They teach that love is more significant than any typical romantic affiliation. In his poetry, sicken compares love to religion to emphasize its sanctity and value.

Siken has also written about life and death as they are scenes in a movie where you only read from a screenplay in one of his poems, “Planet of Love.” As you read the poems, you play the scenes because you like immersing yourself in love to express your deep yearning. Even in less dramatic affirmations like “I sleep,” Siken writes about his dreams beautifully. The bold way of expression and confidence that Sicken depicts in his poetry in Crush encourages you to talk about your dreams that you have never shared with anyone.

It allows you to think beyond restrictions and let your imagination fly higher than you would have thought. And building this type of audacity to express precisely what you feel is necessary when you choose poetry for your emotional vent out. The entire collection makes you feel more understood and more known.

You’re in poetry for that one line where everything comes together and a point is stated eloquently. Sicken’s poetry in Crush is lightning striking. His poems use lines that stand on their own to the narrator’s turbulent journey through his interactions with his thoughts, men, and the outside world.

Crush is the favorite poetry collection of many poets and people because of Siken’s vivid imagery and cutting truths, which combine to produce awe-inspiring poetry. Crush is sure to transform every reader into a poetry lover!

Looking for more poetry recommendations? Here are Seven Poetry Collections to Read if You Don’t Read Poetry.