[REVIEW]Remedies for Disappearing, by Alexa Patrick

(Buy this wonderful book here.)

FINALLY AND AT LAST!

It’s been (rightly) noted that I can be rather hard on Black woman writers. (Apologies to Tiffany D Jackson, Tracey Deonn, Jasmine Mans, and others…) I think it’s because I’m aching for us to truly center ourselves and our experiences as our frame of reference, rather than endlessly spiral into the madness of responding to external prejudices.

This poetry collection satisfies that ache. I feel so seen in these verses, in all my Blackness, in all my womanhood, in all my feminity. I think others will, too. Alexa Patrick does the wonderful thing that all good poets do and magnifies small moments into vast meditations on being, connecting, and feeling. Sharing headphones with a stranger on a bus, being one of the two little Black girls in a ballet class, walking past groups of Black men outside of a grocery store, first kisses, last meetings, auntie gatherings, mother ghosts, proms, seasons, love, sadness – it’s all here. It’s all seen and known and examined and loved and it all makes me feel like this is really the Black girl poetry book I’ve needed for a while.

Particularly notable is a series of poems based on prom stories shared by Black girls from a small Connecticut town. They were gathered on Zoom during 2020, and provide an antidote to the painful erasure many Black girls experience when coming of age in a country that seeks to negatively quantify and deny our womanhood at an early age. These were challenging, but beautifully made. I’ve never seen these feelings and experiences presented so transparently or tenderly, and I’m sure I’ll visit those words again.

Here’s how much I loved this book: I NEVER tag authors in reviews but I feel the need to publicly say: @alexalaurel , you DID this, ma’am! Thank you for the words and the empathy.

A hug for the prom girls, a side-eye for the grocery store brothas, and a smile for the lady in the mirror to Remedies For Disappearing.