What started as an instagram and hashtag movement, connecting like-minded folk of all walks of life through the storytelling and empowering words of Danielle Doby comes I Am Her Tribe. A collection of poetry drawing on this movement and growing into a safe place to, as Doby puts it on one of her first pages, ‘come as you are. your breath can rest here’.
Doby has created a book of simple moments portrayed with simple words but which has a beguiling affect on its reader. At first glance or even a skim read, these pieces don’t seem to hold much substance but when you take the time to sit with them and truly allow yourself to be taken by each piece, and the language it uses, you allow yourself to be engulfed by the emotion her work can conjure and it’s an extraordinary process. There are moments that a piece requires a slow, more thoughtful read while other pieces command to be read with a sense of urgency, the weight and emotion of the words not truly sinking in until you’ve finished reading it. Doby’s pacing and choice of language is mesmerising, and truly beautiful to behold.
both soft + fierce
can coexist
and still be powerful
I Am Her Tribe, Danielle Doby p. 137
It’s unlike other poetry that I’ve read in that it feels not so much as an individuals voice but very much a collective voice of the masses. The feel of much of her work is one of empowerment and solidarity; especially that for women which feels even more poignant given the social context since the MeToo movement and more recently the case of Sarah Everard. The raw emotion and imagery she employs in her work is moving and, while it covers many themes such as self-love, healing, and personal growth, it’s very much one of inner peace. There’s such an overwhelming sense of peace when you read her works. I personally love the astrological sign ending to the book which for me ends your reading on a more personal note – a beautiful touch.
Now I don’t want to be a Debbie-Downer and end of a negative note but I have one qualm with this book which is the cover. My copy is a matte white cover with a slight embossed title repeated several times and the authors name, all in white. While aesthetically it is somewhat cute to me, it is also becoming kinda dirty and quick to mark/scuff in all manner of ways which is infuriating to me. I love to revisit my poetry collection whenever I feel drawn to delving back into the authors work and I often take whatever book I’m in the middle of wherever I go with me so this does not bode well for this cover at all and makes me a little apprehensive to reread in the future. I also wonder how inclined readers would be to read it if they picked up a copy at that bookstore to find it a little grubby before they’ve even bought it. There that’s my nit-picking over with.
Have you read Doby’s work? What did you think?
Cheerio for now!
withsomejam 