Rita Mookerjee immediately draws the reader into Becoming the Bronze Idol with her strong and engaging voice. This is a collection that takes a look at the societal status quo and calls bullshit on the whole thing. She’s making us, as the reader, acknowledge the failings of our society while at the same time displaying what it’s like to walk in her shoes for a while. This collection helps readjust the way we look at our world and showing that the first step in fixing something broken is to recognize that it needs to be fixed in the first place.
An excerpt from “Dry Socket”
when one tooth finally pulls loose, it feels less like
deterioration
and more like a talisman that your body is relinquishing to you
maybe out of spite
this world will give you nothing
but together we will leave each other
tokens of calcium blood hair and
flesh
so that we will not be foreign to one
another
White people have set a hollow precedent for what constitutes beauty and worth, and the speaker in Becoming the Bronze Idol has to rise above this perception. She’s coming to her own understanding of what is beautiful and worthy outside of the general worldview we’ve been conditioned by, and in doing so, she finds a whole new kind of empowerment that is inspiring and alluring. Rita Mookerjee has a solid “I don’t give a fuck” mentality and I love it. She’s calling out the shortfalls in American culture and how we value the wrong things while also spotlighting what is truly important. It’s a great collection and I think you should read it. Like, right now.
Purchase your copy from Bone & Ink Press.