Title: I Place You Into the Fire
Author: Rebecca Thomas
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing
Genre: Poetry, Spoken word, Indigenous
Rating: 4/5
Review:

Poetry can hold so many emotions, tell a story, and relate to the reader in many different ways. I don’t usually opt for poetry books, but when I saw this book I knew that the author wrote this out of having many words to say. A poetry book written for a love of poetry and the need to communicate feelings and emotions of what was on her mind. I can feel so many different emotions, the hatred, the sorrow, the joy, and the love within her words. These poems are like stories, they take your mind on a journey, making you question so many different things. Learning about the land, history, and Indigenous Peoples. She writes about the injustice they face, and how much it affected her and her family. These poems are the stories of her life and the stories of her relatives. How hard it was for her to find herself. I found it all so meaningful, and I loved learning about all of it.

I think that it was really interesting how this was divided into parts, how the same word (well, yes, but not quite) could mean 3 different things. This book gave me a new understanding and perspective to the standpoint of this author. I could feel so much passion and time in these poems, and I can tell what kind of person this author is. I can tell why she wrote all of these and the emotions she went through. They provide a look into her mind, and I can sympathize with her and I can learn. I can understand the stories about her culture, and I can understand where she comes from.

This was such a meaningful read for me, and I really hope that you can check it out. I really recommend it. Thank you so much for reading <3

Here is the official synopsis for I Place You Into the Fire from Nimbus:

The incisive and vital first poetry collection from Mi’kmaw spoken-word poet and former poet laureate of Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia.
We remember tomorrow and a thousand years ago.
From eel weirs to the buffalo.
We remember petroglyphs and Instagram photos.
See, we remember our history,
Without statues, money, or pictures of the Queen.
In Mi’kmaw, three similarly shaped words have drastically different meanings: kesalul means “I love you”; kesa’lul means “I hurt you”; and ke’sa’lul means “I put you into the fire.” In spoken-word artist and critically acclaimed author (I’m Finding My Talk) Rebecca Thomas’s first poetry collection, readers will feel Thomas’s deep love, pain, and frustration as she holds us all to task, along the way mourning the loss of her childhood magic, exploring the realities of growing up off reserve, and offering up a new Creation Story for Canada.
Diverse and probing, I place you into the fire is at once a meditation on navigating life and love as a second-generation Residential School survivor, a lesson in unlearning, and a rallying cry for Indigenous justice, empathy, and equality. A searing collection that embodies the vitality and ferocity of spoken-word poetry.