To feel the darkness, but choose the light Review
By Nic Daniels
Hello, audacious readers!
It is officially fall! Cue the pumpkins, apple crisp, and sweaters (metaphorically. It is still hot in many places)! Before we go into spooky season, let’s enjoy the cool down. Last month, we closed out summer with the slice-of-life webcomic Daybreak by Moosopp. This month, we’re savoring the light with the poetry volume, to feel the darkness but choose the light by Jhane.
In life, with love and laughter comes heartbreak and darkness and sometimes, it can feel like the sun won’t ever shine again. Jhane is no stranger to this feeling as she describes a breakup and a brief loss of self as a result of it. She walks us through a personal healing journey in four stages. First we have “dimming,” which explores finding joy in small thigns and taking it one day at a time. The section “flickering” injects some hope but also allows more time to be low without judgement. “Shimmering” is the beginning of stepping in a new direction. “Beaming” brings unexpected honesty along with renewed hope for the future.
To me, one of the ways Jhane shines with this volume of poetry is in her use of familiar references. Some of my favorites are the poems “never love a wild thing” in reference to Breakfast at Tiffany’s and “You remind me” in reference to the Usher’s similarly named song. Not only do these poems bring back great memories but Jhane flips them creatively for the narrative, furthering her metaphor is a fun but precise way.
Another great feature of her writing is how the light and dark metaphors are embedded throughout every section. In “dimming,” we see a few poems such as “you’ll never find” and “the cycle of feeling” that act as points of clarity that push us to “flickering.” In “shimmering,” there are still a few poems that speak of lingering doubt, like “when will you see yourself as I see you” and “heart emojis,” which is refreshingly honest. It would’ve been easy for Jhane to only put poems that spoke of positivity or to frame these poems as letting go/moving on, but she doesn’t. Instead, she leans into honesty about her fears even after going through her healing journey, a common but sometimes unacknowledged aspect of growing.
Overall, this volume is a reminder to just feel. Don’t rush the process, don’t ignore it, and don’t shame yourself for feeling what you feel. It’s easy to get stuck in the darkness of your thoughts when you get caught up in regret but there’s a life beyond knowing you could’ve made different or better choices. In the end, I think Jhane wants people to recognize what they give to the world around them so they can understand that the light they give away is for themselves, first, foremost, and always.
I hope you guys enjoyed to feel the darkness but choose the light. I'll be sharing all my thoughts on the upcoming IG live with founder, Jessica Wise. Go ahead and check out her interview with Audacity to learn more about Jhane and her process writing this volume. Feel free to comment your thoughts below and, until next time, don’t forget to read audaciously!
