Bring Down the Chandeliers

Every one of Tara Hardy's books breaks me open, and this one is no exception. This is a scream in the night, and under the bright midday sun, and that scream has an incest survivor's heart inside. These are poems to be read aloud, and then, too, to be whispered to the hidden, once-though-lost, inside parts of a broken self. This is necessary reading for survivors, I think, and maybe even more so for the folks who want to love us. Thank you, Tara Hardy, for these fine and brilliant poems.

One of my favorite poets has brought her writings to share in this excellent selection. Tara's poems will reach you right where you least expect it, and leave you with a sense of astonishment at how genuine they are. It is a punch in the stomach, a pull of a heart string. This is an honest look into the mind and heart of a poet. Would not recommend for young readers, as it contains dark content.

vulnerability is constant throughout this set of poems. the poet has a distinct voice no matter the material, and you get a sense of her strength within a life of trauma and struggle. ultimately I sensed these poems were about vindication. the poets processing her life experiences not to heal and move forward, but to continue to face life and all it brings in a fearless and authentic manner. Very excited to take a reading workshop with her at Hugo House next month.

A book to read and re-read. These are poems that will stay with you, that are accessible to everyone. I found these poems to be relentlessly beautiful and moving.

Want to read some poetry that will rip your ears off? Okay, I'm being hyperbolic, but Hardy's book is just so dang good. Known and respected as a slam & performance poet, she transitions easily to the page. Poems in here make me laugh out loud, from "F*** Christmas" to "Homosexual Love." But Hardy shines most brightly when the poems aren't funny in the least. Hardy writes extensively about surviving horrifying child abuse. Her "Lizzie Borden," which recasts the infamous Borden as just doing what she had to do to survive, is one of the creepiest--and best--poems I've read on the subject.This is a book for people who want to feel something. I love it.

Tara Hardy reveals strength through fearlessness, truthfulness, and beauty. These pages are filled with human nature and body described in the most insightful manner- each poem could lift a spirit, could cure a heartache or a day, even give a fresh perspective on a life! If you have lived you have felt struggle- if you have felt struggle you could use a read like this.

I really enjoyed this book. The poems here are brave and honest. The painful truths are not hidden, but there is always an undertone of tremendous strength beneath them. There is something like a celebration of the emotional scars from life that mark the survival of great battles. In these poems, those scars are not ugliness, but strong tissue out of which new identities are grown. I love the feeling of wholeness I find in these poems, and how apparent brokenness and difference is embraced as part of this wholeness. A favourite of mine was the rousing 'Uncommon Woman'. I was particularly struck by the poem 'Peace and Justice' and its challenging questions of what those things might demand of us. Great stuff.