Accidental Devotions

I absolutely loved it. I buy a lot of poetry and often find one poem that makes me swoon or touches me deeply that I return and return to that one. But with Kelly's book, I could not put it down. I read every word over just a few days. She is so passionate and open, free and vulnerable and wild.

Both digital and Dickinsonian, the poems in ACCIDENTAL DEVOTIONS contemplate spirituality and the technology shaping our lives. Often the intersection evokes humor as in "Accidental Devotion to a Smart Phone" where we overhear a man's dialogue into his phone—an apology to a loved one. The speaker wants the man to toss his phone into the ocean and select a seashell for the partner he's trying to win back. Electronics have a deistic presence in "Alexa Why Am I Falling Apart", "Some Days You Wonder if God Has Left the Group Chat" and "Accidental Devotion in Which My Search History Becomes a Prayer". These are the absurd moments of our era that benefit from fresh eyes, luckily Kelli Russell Agodon lends us hers. You cannot read these poems without wanting to see the world anew—and yes, to attempt to write about it with as much wit and elegance.