Things My Grandmother Said
Poems
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Narrated by:
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Amit Majmudar
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By:
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Amit Majmudar
About this listen
This marvelous collection opens with the practical wisdom and unforgettable wit of the poet’s grandmother, who said (among other things), “Turmeric can heal anything / but a broken heart” and “Read that to me at / my funeral, boy, right now my show is on.” From the foundation of the matriarchal, Majmudar turns to the impact of women as lovers and partners, exploring the contours of passionate, romantic, and married love; he and his wife are “two fireflies/ scooped out of the same evening” to meet in the jar where their constancy contains and sustains them. In the end, all this love transforms into the gift of language: Majmudar writes of how the Goddess in all her forms has charmed his life, giving rise to the creativity and personhood that allows him to seek and find his mother country in poetry.
A remarkable work from a man celebrating the power of the feminine to shape us and define who we are.
Critic Reviews
“Things My Grandmother Said is an elaborate altar to those ‘necessary beings / who . . . keep on cradling you, unseen.’ It’s also a set of variations on themes at once domestic and cosmic, as the figures of (grand)mother, memory, language, and poetry merge. The variegated labyrinth through which this remarkable poet leads us is embellished not only by his technical virtuosity but also by his compassion, curiosity, and candor.” —Rachel Hadas, author of Ghost Guest
“A tour de force. . . . Formally dazzling. . . Majmudar pay[s] homage to the women he admires, from his grandmother, mother, wife, and daughter, to Wonder Woman, Hindu goddesses, poet friends, and a nurse in a kill zone. Couplets such as ‘Time is a circle I can put to use: / a wheel to roll things back, a crown, a noose,’ butt up against the sagacity of his grandmother, whose old-country pronouncements are a highlight: ‘Sure, the Ganga is holy, / but who told you to drink from it?’” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A tour de force. . . . Formally dazzling. . . Majmudar pay[s] homage to the women he admires, from his grandmother, mother, wife, and daughter, to Wonder Woman, Hindu goddesses, poet friends, and a nurse in a kill zone. Couplets such as ‘Time is a circle I can put to use: / a wheel to roll things back, a crown, a noose,’ butt up against the sagacity of his grandmother, whose old-country pronouncements are a highlight: ‘Sure, the Ganga is holy, / but who told you to drink from it?’” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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