Papier Mâché: A Review
A review of Tamanda Kanjaye's poetry collection 'Papier Mâché'
There used to be a time when I was so into poetry. I even dabbled in writing some pieces, but the less said about this the better. However, with time, I grew less fond of it, I did not hate it, but let’s just say I did not go out of my way to read poems. Apart from occasionally listening to spoken word with the likes of Rudy Francisco, Catie Trainor, Whitney Hanson, or Miles Carter, I found the writing in poetry relatively intimidating and annoyingly hard to break through.
Fortunately, Kanjaye’s Papier Mâché was not like this. It reminded me of my earlier encounters with poetry. The simple but packed lines that break into different stories, the folding of these disparate perspectives in a single stanza, and the deftness with which this is done. This is the poetry I missed.
This collection of twelve poems plays on the concept of paper. Drawing on its dexterity, Kanjaye weaves together punchy stories of love, grief, loss, masculinity, and family. Among these, I had the difficult task of choosing only two to review. While I was tempted by the heart-warming Paper Stars or Paper Lanterns with their exploration of friendship and resilience respectively, I chose to go for the first two poems - Paper Worlds and Paper Boy.
Paper Worlds
A seemingly simple one-stanza poem, Paper Worlds was a fitting introduction to the anthology. It reminded me of the solace I find in books, and the peace I have grown to find in writing - the joy in doing exactly what I am doing now. For me, it was a beautiful illustration of the escapism that comes with writing or reading, the worlds that we run to when reality is not forthcoming, and the infinite stories that you will find in the pages of Papier Mache.
Paper Boy
I remember posting an excerpt of this poem on Twitter, and one of my friends responding with a “Oh, [that’s] so you”. So yes, this is the poem I found the most relatable, and is arguably my favourite piece in the collection.
It reminded me so much of masculinity - how crying would “clog [it’s] skin”. How it can make you live your whole life wary of water - wary of crying, wary of vulnerability. What I love about the poem is how despite this fear, he is not as afraid of the tears of others. How he is there for others in ways he cannot be there for the person closest to him - himself. In The Will To Change, bell hooks discusses how men are molded into a state of emotional stoicism - where they do not acknowledge or engage with their feelings [of pain] - because that is the noble or manly thing to do. But this poem takes this a step further, it talks about those that are teetering at the edge of what masculinity expects, those that know that emotions can be all-consuming but have still not learnt to interact with them without being swallowed whole.
Concluding Remarks
Papier Mâché is definitely up there with my favourite reads so far. I am slightly frustrated that I do not have a critique for this book as of yet, and I blame this squarely on both the beautiful theme curation and the matching animations. This might of course also be because I have not read much poetry over the years, but from that limited experience, this still reads like a masterpiece!
The book can be bought from Kanjaye’s website, currently going at $1.50.
very sweet and simple-- i love the writing, both, of the poems and of their review :)
Hmmm, may be simple writing but packed with complexities of this world, looking forward to reading the remainder of the poems