Published in KONCH Zine 1/2022 - Ishmael Reed,  Publisher

Synchronicity: The Oracle of Sun Medicine, Tureeda Mikell (Nomadic Press, 2020) reviewed by Chris Stroffolino

 

Excerpt from review.

At my job, I’m usually studying for exams, prepping, commenting in subject-object consciousness,

of grammar as social relations, feeling separated from the body, but it has often been said, “the

teacher" will come when the student’s ready” and sometimes a single line can have a force that comes

like slow medicine. “To disengage one subject from life’s circle would paralyze the rest.” (155). This

wisdom in this line, however, becomes even more uncanny when I consider the context in which

these lines came to Tureeda Mikell:

“If I hadn’t experienced migraines while studying for three exams,

looking for subject-connectedness in a circle, reading a book

given to me, titled Muntu, and find a quote that read, “For the

African, to disengage one subject from life’s circle would paralyze

the rest,” and have the migraines disappear shortly thereafter,” (155)

This is just one of the ways in which Tureeda Mikell, in her debut collection, Synchronicity (2020), is

able to show the healing powers of certain words, and also how sharing some words can make

people feel less alone or less crazy, especially against cultural normative institutions that pathologize

nature. Yet, as a healer, she also knows how deep these cultural institutions have their claws in us,

even if we think we’ve escaped them once and for all as if a pill can purge these demons.

https://www.ishmaelreedpub.com/

 

Organization, Timeliness, Other, Environments

“Tureeda is an excellent storyteller. It is truly her passion. I bought several poems

and gave them to a family member who has experienced many challenges. I read

the poem to her and then showed it to her. She was very emotional and grateful.

I read the next poem to her grandsons who took the poem with the image of a baby

boy and hugged it. Tureeda's words are on the living room mantel where it touches

three generations daily. Thank you Tureeda for sharing your gift, love, wisdom,

understanding and generosity." JoAnn