a little daylight left by sarah kay

sarah kay has such a way of telling a story through her poems. another note, the careful selection/order of these poems are noticed and appreciated. i remember listening to some of these poems years ago, so i went back to look for them and listen to them again. (i already know i’m going to purchase the audiobook of her reading this one.) watching her and phil kaye years ago were one of the reasons i found poetry to be such a beautiful, moving, work of art. a little daylight left as reminded me of my love for always finding a metaphor in things. thank you sarah for reminding me that life can be much more.

the poems in this collection are diverse, but the structure of all of them have a similar tone between rhyme schemes. it’s one of my favorite things about sarah kay’s poems. these ballads are worth the voice. i hope everyone who picks up this book (once it releases in april) will be able to find relevance in things they may have once overlooked in life.

I really enjoyed this collection. Her poems felt honest and emotional, and I connected with the way she writes about love, loss, and everyday life. I also appreciated how natural and conversational her style was. I found that it made the poems easy to read and relate to. Some poems stood out more than others, but overall, I found the collection meaningful and worth reading.

Usually when it comes to poetry I prefer to read and reflect, to assess each poem by the speaker's voice, the themes, the subject, etc. but this poetry collection deserves to be rated a full five stars. The poems were heartfelt and well written. I would love to get a physical copy of this book so that I can annotate it and read it as many times as I wish. I recommend it!

I really liked the poems-- though most were longer than I'm normally used to seeing, I kind of liked having time to settle into them-- how they feel like a conversation with a friend who is speaking a little more freely than we might like sometimes, as if part of the thoughts come out without being filtered.

I really did try to give this a fair chance, but I had to dnf at 44%. The poems were not my cup of tea, they sounded like diary ramblings.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for selecting me to receive an advanced copy.

Overall, I can appreciate that this was some beautiful poetry, but the style of it just wasn’t for me. Knowing now that she is a spoken word poet makes the feel of most of the poems make a lot more sense. I personally struggle with poems that read like a run-on sentence. That’s just my personal thing and is not a comment on the quality of the poems themselves. I think someone who appreciates poetry more as a genre and doesn’t have that same comprehension issue would greatly enjoy this collection.

In this latest collection of unconventional poetry, the author shares so many moments in life, big moments and little moments, happy and not so happy. There is a power she has in the ability to transform a small, possibly forgettable moment, into something more.

I was gifted a digital copy which I enjoyed but I also listened to the audio version which was fantastic! The author narrates it and brings each poem to life. Interspersed in the audio are live versions performed in front of an audience and several of those highlight the humor in which the author uses her words.

This is not a weepy heavy collection but a thoughtful perspective, with a little humor and a lot of heart, on the many moments that make up this thing we call life.

Thank you to @thedialpress @netgalley for a #gifted digital copy.

A Little Daylight Left is yet another poem by Sarah Kay that I won't get tired of reading.
Beautiful, heartfelt poem that is great for any age!

3.75

Sarah Kay was one of the first poets and performers I had found online when I was all of 10 years old and only just starting to learn about poetry. As such, I was incredibly happy to have been able to read her debut collection. Her writing is tender and her choice of form interestingly reflects that of a spoken piece. This collection deals with growth and aging and finding yourself and I'd certainly recommend this as an entry point into poetry as it is incredibly accessible in the way it is written and the themes that it touches on. It's perhaps not the most profound of works but still incredibly lovely as a whole and I'm sure that there are many people who can relate to her words.

I've been a fan of Sarah Kay since the early 2010s and got to see her live at Carnegie Mellon over ten years ago! So, I was ecstatic to be able to read her new, full-length work early! I think knowing her work and her cadence was helping in reading this - especially since she uses a style of poetry with little or no punctuation; knowing a bit of her style helped me almost perform in my own head.

I loved this little collection - it was thoughtful, particularly as it relates to love and grief. It felt vulnerable, light at times, and quite heavy at others - but I truly did enjoy it

It's always hard for me to review works of poetry - because I'm no expert - but A Little Daylight Left made me feel something and reflect...which, to me, is the mark of good, meaningful work.

Sarah Kay has been one of my all time favorites since I was a teenager, and I'm so excited that I get to share this collection with my patrons. Her writing and wit is as sharp as ever in this collection, with a beautiful tenderness just on the right side of sentimental. It's accessible enough to be a great entry point for poetry newcomers but with plenty of depth to satisfy those looking for something to really sink their teeth into.

Thanks to NetGalley for thos eARC!

So, I remember falling in love with Sarah Kay's poetry performances online. Although the poems were relatable, this collection didn't really move me as much as I thought it would. However, I do appreciate Sarah's poetry and I hope to see more from her.

5 stars

This was fantastic. These are best read outloud, there is something that works so well with the prose in that form. I appreciated how they were organized from youth to growing up. I really connected with not only the themes but the way she used words.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy to form opinions from.

What a beautiful collection. Sarah Kay delves into life’s vulnerable transitions and her poems invite readers to confront challenges such as heartbreak, caring for an ailing loved one, and the uncertainties of new beginnings. But also, she reminds us that there is still beauty in the complexity of life, even when the times feel dark.

Thank you Netgalley and Dial Press for my eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Kay’s A Little Daylight Left is nothing short of breathtaking. With her signature blend of stunning imagery, profound emotion, and deeply relatable reflections, Kay once again proves why she is one of the most exceptional poets of our time. Every poem is filled with language so precise and evocative that it lingers long after the final page; I feel so connected to the words she writes and I felt that same way with this collection as I have with her past work. I was beyond excited to get early access to this collection, and it exceeded every expectation I had. She captures love, loss, hope, and the beauty of everyday life with a clarity that I wish I had. Her writing is so powerful because it perfectly encapsulates everything I wish to be able to express. Her words don’t just resonate—they make you feel understood in ways you didn’t even realize you needed. Whether she is exploring the complexities of human connection or the small, fleeting moments that shape us, Kay’s poetry is a gift, and A Little Daylight Left is one of her finest offerings yet. I truly adore everything she writes, and this collection is no exception.

5 stars

I really appreciate Sarah Kay's work for two reasons: (1) personal enjoyment and (2) absolute accessibility for my students. They love her, too, and she is a great entry point into poetry for my second-year college audience. This collection will get a lot of traction on future syllabi.

Incoming fans of Kay's and folks with all levels of experience reading poetry - beginners included - will find motifs, descriptions, and snapshots of the human condition to which they can relate (or minimally appreciate).

I recommend this collection to interested readers and will definitely share it with my students.

Sarah Kay’s A Little Daylight Left seems to promise ruminations on moments of peaceful and quaint effervescence: poems that accord with the gently rising building and the puffy clouds against the blue sky on the cover of this collection. There are moments of this kind: the thrillingly fleeting wonders of sunset, of love, of friends, family, of memory, and of unencumbered childhood encounters with nature, but A Little Daylight Left is always cognizant that the waning daylight can provide rhapsodic moments of illumination as well as moments that reveal searing and difficult truths.

In her portraits of loving partnerships and family connections, Kay presents a rapturous daylight that is so radiant, the unflinching honesty overwhelms. Indeed “Dreaming Boy” is so forthright in presenting the shyly hopeful trepidation present in a partnership exploring unsettled questions of gender, sexual orientation, preference, and roles –everything open, nothing hidden,– that I had a powerfully immediate cry.

With a similarly moving and gentle candor, “Tsubu “explores a kind of generational daylight, family vocabulary. and tradition against the backdrop of Sarah Kay’s aging mother The poem reveals the delicate contingency of life, and family, the precious nature of all shared time and accumulated language. But even this acknowledged mortality, the depleting daylight from which we can’t escape, does not negate the moments of wonder and brightness to be had.

Terrorism and violence, inescapable and pervasive in contemporary life, are perhaps the most challenging and confounding forces with which to contend in the little daylight we all have left. Kay reminds us that even the clear daylight blue skies can become terrorism can be harbingers – as they were during the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York or in Jakarta in 2019. Similarly, glorious post-party slivers of daylight can quickly become spotlights of existential and real terror, if an attacker catches sight of the unprotected and unsuspecting. Still, jokes, poetry, dating, relationships, art, and the onward march of human life continue, not out of a defiant perseverance, but because all the facets of human existence can occur in the little daylight left.

Some readers might find the way in which Sarah Kay represents these convergences to be challenging. Exaggerated font size and stylistic differences often announce the arrival of interrupted memory, of trauma, and other lasting and traumatic experiences. Sometimes very wry asides appear in passages otherwise contending with serious subjects. And sometimes the unflinchingly and carefully articulated details of isolated longing –in a fertility clinic, for a lost love, for a life not subject to routine unwelcome intrusions– are so memorably illuminated that that starkness is unforgettable. Still others might find the portrayal of New York City cosmopolitan life to be a little cliché in its revelry and self-aware finitude. Taken as a whole, however, I think the depth and breadth of the emotional honesty of this collection, the ways in which Sarah Kay insists on witnessing A Little Daylight Left pack a tremendous wallop.

3.5 stars rounded up

Introspective, fresh, and tender. Sarah Kay has a way with words. Her poetry tends to lean on the verbose and prosey side, which isn't always my thing, but I definitely had a good time reading this collection. Her poetry is better when it's spoken aloud as she is a slam poet at heart. This collection covers motherhood, grief, longing, and creativity. Returning fans will see growth in her form and new readers will enjoy her down to earth style.

My favorite poems are: "Ars Poetica" and "Praise My Tiny Kitchen."

A Little Daylight Left had me floored from the very first poem.

Kay crafts such beautiful imagery for us with her words, snapshots of experience, connection, love, sex. There are life altering, heartbreaking moments. Thought spirals that seem circular, but we're going somewhere. I promise. She makes even the most mundane of moments shine with hidden light. From dreams, to cooking, to family road trips, there is magic in these acts.

While reading the poem Sharpshooters, I recall thinking that her parents' love for photography must have helped to shape her ability to paint such beautiful pictures with words. Then in the very next poem she says herself, "I learned to write the way my parents photograph—looking for light."

Sarah
I am reading to myself unaccompanied
in silence
I have no special accent
just your voice in my head as I read

Thank you for reminding me that I still need to take that road trip with my dad up the coast to hunt for beautiful, dilapidated barns to photograph.

I wish I could remember my introduction to Sarah Kay, but I can't pinpoint it. My best guess is it was from a spoken word with Phil Kaye, maybe "When Love Arrives" or "An Origin Story". I'd be willing to bet the AP Lit Facebook groups were where my love for her was planted.

A Little Daylight Left is a collection in three parts with a poem and an epigraph to set the stage. Part I features 11 poems that center around a theme of fear being learned rather than innate, sometimes borne of experience or crafted to protect oneself. Part II features 19 poems and highlights the bravery it takes to maintain a sense of softness and vulnerability with those we love, have loved, and hope to love one day. Part III contains 14 poems if I can count that highlight human resiliency that can only continue really through community and a willingness to continue trying despite it all.

There were several poems that stood out to me, but if I had to pick one from each section it would be: "Across the Room", "Orange", and "The Minister of Loneliness". There were many more that I could name, but suffice it to say, I believe this collection offers something for everyone and I cannot wait to put this on my shelf at home and in the classroom for students to explore.