The World is Round
By Nikky Finney

A Memoir in Mostly Poetry

A Book of Poems and Prose
Destined to Heal

Sometimes poetry is a flurry of pretty words; it may capture our senses with carefully-wrought rhythm and sound but the memory scatters like autumn leaves, scurries away from us like trivial notes in the wind. Nikky Finney's poetry is sometimes flawed, sometimes perfection. It is never inconsequential.

"The World is Round" is rather like a memoir starting with a sense for the first stirrings of life through the bitter and loving intricacies of family life. That the author is an African American woman is important only because, by virtue of her being exactly who she is, she breaches the gulf between gender, the rift between races, the gap between generations. Her poetry eloquently demonstrates that soul is simply soul. There are no differences when understanding is present.

If one poem, one vignette does not touch you, move on. Find "Mean Nina" and "Coda." They are my favorites. If you don't agree, you are still certain to find your own.