Hard Times Require Furious Dancing by Alice Walker

Hard Times Require Furious Dancing by Alice Walker is a remarkable writer, her best known work of course being, The Color Purple. This new book includes poems that as a reader you can read over and over again, finding new meanings and cherishing them each and every time.

Book Description

“Though we have encountered our share of grief and troubles on this earth, we can still hold the line of beauty, form, and beat. No small accomplishment in a world as challenging as this one.” — from the preface

“I was born to grow, / alongside my garden of plants, / poems / like / this one”

So writes Alice Walker in this new book of poems, poems composed over the course of one year in response to joy and sorrow both personal and global: the death of loved ones, war, the deliciousness of love, environmental devastation, the sorrow of rejection, greed, poverty, and the sweetness of home. The poems embrace our connections while celebrating the joy of individuality, the power we each share to express our truest, deepest selves. Beloved for her ability to speak her own truth in ways that speak for and about countless others, she demonstrates that we are stronger than our circumstances. As she confronts personal and collective challenges, her words dance, sing, and heal.” – Hard Times Require Furious Dancing

My Thoughts

Hard Times Require Furious Dancing truly reminded me of why I loved poetry so much as a high school student. I’m glad that this book gave me the opportunity to read beautifully written poetry again and remind me of my appreciation for it.

These poems were written during struggles and sadness, but the honesty and depth to them give them much more meaning than simply words on a page that are read together. When you read them, you can feel the emotion put into them and perhaps relate them to times in your life, too.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book of poems, and think that anyone who appreciates good poetry will love this book, too. I highly recommend it!

* Thank you to the publisher of Hard Times Require Furious Dancing, New World Library, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.