Diaka’s poetry collection is one that I believe was meant for a specific audience. It is one that I am not a part of, which is fine; poems shouldn’t always have to resonate with the reader. Many of these poems focused on experiences that distinctly impacted African women (specifically cisgender, and more on this), particularly the myriad ways misogyny makes an appearance. I was also intrigued by how Diaka used this collection as an opportunity to scrutinize the role of religion (specifically Christianity) in all of this. With that said, while I understand that this collection is deeply personal, I was a little unnerved by the bioessentialist understanding of womanhood in a handful of these poems. I wouldn’t go so far as to cry out that it’s transphobia in action but, rather, an opportunity to further reflect on the complexities of womanhood. One thing that I want to say Diaka did capture very well, though, was the pain and frustration that women face in society due to misogyny.

The poems carry power, yet I found that I was a bit disengaged with them. The collection read to me as a bit uneven, with the last section feeling out-of-place (though it was also my favorite, funnily enough). Furthermore, with the exception of a few poems, Diaka’s writing style didn’t really work for me, personally. It wasn’t until after I finished the collection and did a little more research into the poet that I learned she does spoken word that how she approached her poems made far more sense. It actually made me wonder if I should have borrowed the audiobook so that I could hear these poems while the words were in front of me for a better experience overall.