The language suggests a struggle against physics. The body is dragging, sinking. This aligns with the symptoms of clinical depression: psychomotor retardation, the feeling that one's limbs are made of lead. By externalizing this feeling into the image of a "blue body," Shire validates the physiological reality of mental illness. She posits that the mind and body are not separate; the sorrow of the mind dyes the flesh.
This is Shire’s first major collection with a big publisher (Random House). While it includes some revised earlier poems, it is not the same as Her Blue Body . Still, purchasing this book supports Shire and allows her to eventually reprint the older work. her blue body warsan shire pdf
She steps into the water. It is colder than betrayal. It climbs her ankles, her calves, the map of scars behind her knees. Each scar is a small country she has fled. She does not look back. Looking back is a luxury of those who have somewhere to return to. The language suggests a struggle against physics
One of the primary themes of "Her Blue Body" is the intersection of love and war. Shire explores the ways in which conflict and violence can both destroy and create, often in the same moment. The poem's speaker is torn between her love for her partner and the brutal reality of war, which threatens to destroy everything she holds dear. By externalizing this feeling into the image of