What do you think?
Rate this book
Shaking the Trees
From the very first page Shaking the Trees meets you at the edge of the forest, extends a limb & seduces you into taking a walk through the dark & light of connection. Suddenly, like a gunshot in the very-near distance, you find yourself traipsing though a full-blown love story that you can’t find your way out of because the story is actually the landscape underneath your feet. It’s okay though, you won’t get lost– you won’t go hungry. Azra shakes every tree along the way so their fruit blankets the ground before you. She picks up pieces & hands them to you but not before she shows you how she can love you so gently it will feel like she’s unpeeling you carefully from yourself. She tells you that it isn’t about the bite but the warm juice that slips from the lips down chin. She holds your hand when you’re trudging through the messier parts, shoes getting stuck in the muck of it all, but you’ll keep going with the pulp of the fruit still stuck in-between your teeth, the juice will dry in the crooks of your elbows & in the lines on your palms. You’ll taste bittersweet for days.
72 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2014
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 5, 2018
This book was read for the #readwomen month.
Did I cry reading this? Maybe. Have you not read the description? It was simply meant to happen.
Yes, I did feel like I was on a journey, and I did not go hungry, for the trees bowed for me to take their fruit, and water sprung from rocks for me to drink, and the animals lead me to the end while singing in my ear. But I did go hungry when the pain was the only thing filling my stomach, and I went thirsty when the rocks hid from the shadows, and I was lonely when the animals left me while I sunk in mud and only came back when I was out. But the wind was there through the good and the bad, and I was not as alone as I felt.
Yes, bittersweet is the one perfect word to describe such beauty.
Did I cry reading this? Maybe. Have you not read the description? It was simply meant to happen.
Yes, I did feel like I was on a journey, and I did not go hungry, for the trees bowed for me to take their fruit, and water sprung from rocks for me to drink, and the animals lead me to the end while singing in my ear. But I did go hungry when the pain was the only thing filling my stomach, and I went thirsty when the rocks hid from the shadows, and I was lonely when the animals left me while I sunk in mud and only came back when I was out. But the wind was there through the good and the bad, and I was not as alone as I felt.
Yes, bittersweet is the one perfect word to describe such beauty.
July 16, 2014
I received this book in the mail and had to wait 2 hours before reading it. I anticipated its contents so much that the timing and moment had to be perfect when I delve into its pages. I finished it as the trees around me shook from the wind and every word still reverberating through my soul. I wanted to cry and cheer and fuck. I wanted to take the next person I saw and kiss them straight on the lips and say, "Remember this moment for the rest of your life." Azra has been an inspiration to me since I first discovered her writing through tumblr. She is a young aspiring poet like myself, which first caught my attention, and should be beyond proud of her whole being for this book. Her writing flutters off the pages like butterflies that end up flying around in someone's head for days after. This books causes ache, but it happens in all the softest places.
June 30, 2014
This book pissed me off through no fault of it's own. I didn't want to return to that devastatingly lonely place of my youth, i wasn't looking to be laying awake crying at three a.m. for all the innocence and love left behind.
But it also tapped that place where passion remains undaunted and emotion is lived rather than observed.. ..and, if i dare, where slivers of hope still germinate.
Powerful juju, and cause for celebration.
But it also tapped that place where passion remains undaunted and emotion is lived rather than observed.. ..and, if i dare, where slivers of hope still germinate.
Powerful juju, and cause for celebration.
July 19, 2014
I have no idea how this slipped my radar. I’ve been following 5000letters (that's the authors user name on tumblr who you should check out and basically worship her words) for quite some time and while I knew she had a book coming out I wasn’t sure when the release date was.
Lo and behold the morning of June 30th comes by and I check my email only to find a copy of this book sent to me by the lovely Layla in my inbox and before I even bother with washing my face or brushing my teeth I got to reading it right away.
I honestly haven’t read a collection like this before, or at least I can’t remember having read one.
It is sort of split into months and at the beginning of each one there is this one page short story that tells the events of two people getting to know each other in this heartbreaking manner that only Azra Tabassum can put into words.
After which it goes on with poems that are all.. teeth with words that are just violent in the sense that they’re uninhibited.
I spent that Monday morning having my heart wrecked by Azra. It’s like that opening line in Fahrenheit 451 when Bradbury says “It was a pleasure to burn”. It really was a pleasure being wrecked by it. Thank you for your words.
With that being said I now need a physical copy of this book to hug, sniff and highlight.
Lo and behold the morning of June 30th comes by and I check my email only to find a copy of this book sent to me by the lovely Layla in my inbox and before I even bother with washing my face or brushing my teeth I got to reading it right away.
I honestly haven’t read a collection like this before, or at least I can’t remember having read one.
It is sort of split into months and at the beginning of each one there is this one page short story that tells the events of two people getting to know each other in this heartbreaking manner that only Azra Tabassum can put into words.
After which it goes on with poems that are all.. teeth with words that are just violent in the sense that they’re uninhibited.
I spent that Monday morning having my heart wrecked by Azra. It’s like that opening line in Fahrenheit 451 when Bradbury says “It was a pleasure to burn”. It really was a pleasure being wrecked by it. Thank you for your words.
With that being said I now need a physical copy of this book to hug, sniff and highlight.
June 30, 2014
Azra's poetry hurts. Azra's poetry is raw. Azra's poetry is absolutely beautiful.
September 19, 2014
When I was first getting to know Azra, I remember her telling me her goal was to be a novelist, in particular (if I recall correctly), a young adult writer. I was surprised, as I think most of her followers on Tumblr would be. Because the thing is -- Azra does poetry so well. She knows how to gut a subject and leave the bloody pulp on the page. She knows how to strangle a topic until it is purple at its extremities and everyone reading can feel the pulse of it in their temples.
Shaking the Trees, though, it is not really a book of poetry. Or, I should say, it is not JUST a book of poetry. It's the landscape of a relationship as seen out the window of a train that is going at full speed. She knows how to do this YA thing. She knows all the tropes (the [only slightly] 'sick' partner, the outward steel of aggression in both, the pithy conversations between the two), but she also adds a tenderness to all of this, and more importantly, a reality. These are real people and we have each been one or the other at some point in our lives. We have been on their journey and we see the terrain replicated in this book and reading it, we walk in the shadows of our own footsteps.
Azra knows what she's doing. She is direct and to the point with her language and why shouldn't she be? The knife that plunges straight into the flesh causes more injury than the one that grazes.
Shaking the Trees, though, it is not really a book of poetry. Or, I should say, it is not JUST a book of poetry. It's the landscape of a relationship as seen out the window of a train that is going at full speed. She knows how to do this YA thing. She knows all the tropes (the [only slightly] 'sick' partner, the outward steel of aggression in both, the pithy conversations between the two), but she also adds a tenderness to all of this, and more importantly, a reality. These are real people and we have each been one or the other at some point in our lives. We have been on their journey and we see the terrain replicated in this book and reading it, we walk in the shadows of our own footsteps.
Azra knows what she's doing. She is direct and to the point with her language and why shouldn't she be? The knife that plunges straight into the flesh causes more injury than the one that grazes.
August 18, 2014
I found this last night when I was bored and just looking for something to read. I wasn't sure If I would like it or not.. Azra's poetry is beautiful! It's so different and raw. The perfect book to curl up in bed with and that's exactly what I did.
January 13, 2015
oh my god my heart will never be the same hel p
January 24, 2015
Note to self: reread "Feed" by Azra over and over until your eyes are sore.
June 1, 2015
Exceedingly sweet. 51 pages of beautiful prose and poetry. Not excessive but enough to get inside you.
August 31, 2014
Love, love, love. Lovely. Loving. Loved it. You get the idea.
December 19, 2018
The poetry I found on her blog was so good that I had really high expectations regarding her book. It's not so bad but it was more of a teenage love drama that you will find close to your heart or not depending on your own development stage in life. Mix between prose and poetry, I found the prose bits more powerful and engaging. Definitely check her blog for some really inspiring poems about love and life.
August 3, 2017
Right through every fiber of my heart and soul... how could I not think of him with dazzling poetry?
December 22, 2024
Se trata de una especie de poemario que habla del amor y de las relaciones. Es bastante breve y flojo; salvo por un par de fragmentos que me parecieron bonitos, en mi opinión no merece la pena.
Read
August 18, 2021I wanted to fall in love with this poetry collection, I really, truly did. I'm struggling to understand the higher ratings.
I've been an avid Tumblr follower of Azra's since high school & continue to keep my silly little blog around for her work. I remember waiting for the moment this hit the shelves where I lived, for the chance to show my support for her. Yet somehow I felt this collection was not representative of her mastery in the slightest. After finishing the book, I had to go back to her old online posts to remind myself.
Azra has a past and a life I relate to and empathize with. Maybe because this was written by her teenage self.. a lot of that does not make its way through. Instead, it's filled with cliches and fluffy descriptive words that don't add much to her already self-explanatory metaphors.
Or maybe I'm being a bit entitled and asking for a touch too much.
That being said if Azra writes again.. I won't hesitate to read her new work.
I've been an avid Tumblr follower of Azra's since high school & continue to keep my silly little blog around for her work. I remember waiting for the moment this hit the shelves where I lived, for the chance to show my support for her. Yet somehow I felt this collection was not representative of her mastery in the slightest. After finishing the book, I had to go back to her old online posts to remind myself.
Azra has a past and a life I relate to and empathize with. Maybe because this was written by her teenage self.. a lot of that does not make its way through. Instead, it's filled with cliches and fluffy descriptive words that don't add much to her already self-explanatory metaphors.
Or maybe I'm being a bit entitled and asking for a touch too much.
That being said if Azra writes again.. I won't hesitate to read her new work.
May 15, 2018
after re-reading again and again the first pages i finally found proper time to read and it was nice though hard to follow sometime. i want to read more poetry
October 15, 2016
I'd forgotten that I had this, but I remember taking a long time deciding whether to buy it or not. Poetry in most forms with love at its center just bugs me because it usually comes off trite- like Hallmark Valentines you send to your crush when you're 9.
When I found it in a box today i looked at the cover and thought "did I really buy this? I thought I'll read it and hate it and put it in the "to sell" pile.
This is NOT that kind of poetry with "love" in it. I wanted to hate it, but it got me and sucker punched me to pay attention. The language, the intensity of voice is spectacular. This is real, heated, flawed love with attitude. There's some sappy bits, where you think "oh Christ, more doe-eyes romance" (which I think I only saw because it's what I expected) and then you get devoured and digested with this fictional love story Tabassum delivers that you can't help but curl up in and yes, admit as plausibly delicious. The bio and the cover serves to throw the reader off. Don't let it fool you. You'll miss out on quite the ride.
When I found it in a box today i looked at the cover and thought "did I really buy this? I thought I'll read it and hate it and put it in the "to sell" pile.
This is NOT that kind of poetry with "love" in it. I wanted to hate it, but it got me and sucker punched me to pay attention. The language, the intensity of voice is spectacular. This is real, heated, flawed love with attitude. There's some sappy bits, where you think "oh Christ, more doe-eyes romance" (which I think I only saw because it's what I expected) and then you get devoured and digested with this fictional love story Tabassum delivers that you can't help but curl up in and yes, admit as plausibly delicious. The bio and the cover serves to throw the reader off. Don't let it fool you. You'll miss out on quite the ride.
December 12, 2015
I began this book with low expectations, and it didn't even meet those. I do, however, recommend this book for comedic purposes; it has great (albeit unintentional) punchlines about having somebody to "fuck my body and not my mind". Equally, the cliche of pretty girls wearing red lipstick and chain smoking is there in abundance for anyone who isn't tired of it yet.
In addition to the comedic genius, we have some truly ingenious metaphors. Take for example: "I'm the toothbrush,/and you're the toilet seat/and together we're just right".
I wasn't sure what this meant but I'm assuming it's something meaningful and personal to the author; I'm worried for her. I also particularly enjoyed the complete disregard for grammatical convention.
Truly a special work.
In addition to the comedic genius, we have some truly ingenious metaphors. Take for example: "I'm the toothbrush,/and you're the toilet seat/and together we're just right".
I wasn't sure what this meant but I'm assuming it's something meaningful and personal to the author; I'm worried for her. I also particularly enjoyed the complete disregard for grammatical convention.
Truly a special work.
August 19, 2021
I wanted to like this book so bad. I mean, I didn't hate it, but I had higher expectations.
When I read poetry I'm expecting to get hurt, I'm hoping it'll make me feel some kind of way. At times this book did do that, but other times it was just… not. I love poetry and I love poetry about sex but this was just awkward at times.
If you like poetry that has plot this is something you'll probably like. I really wish I liked it more.
When I read poetry I'm expecting to get hurt, I'm hoping it'll make me feel some kind of way. At times this book did do that, but other times it was just… not. I love poetry and I love poetry about sex but this was just awkward at times.
If you like poetry that has plot this is something you'll probably like. I really wish I liked it more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2016
Let me first say that these poems really take you in. Azra makes you truly feel everything that she writes. I was really surprised to read at the end that she hadn't experience the love and pain that she wrote about in this book. Overall, I could read this book over and over again and never grow tired of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2016
Full of sex and foul language and butterflies and fires and natural disasters. My favourites were This is How You Will Fall in Love and Delilah. My favourite part of reading this was finishing the raw and emotive narrative poetry and then reading the author's bio. The juxtaposition was intense and I think she is a soul sister.
May 28, 2015
2.5 stars. so much potential filled this book, but the fluffy "tumblr" poetry wasn't very original and I have a hard time trying to remember a specific poem--they all blur together. I look forward to reading more poetry by azra, hopefully she'll branch out and improve with age
Read
September 11, 2014A poignant look at the experience of first time loves, beautifully done by an emerging writer.
November 1, 2015
I was looking forward to reading this so much, and it completely lived up to my expectations! One of my favourite poetry collections.
Want to read
December 22, 2015Solid first work for a poet that i am really looking forward to watching grow in the craft.
July 19, 2015
Raw, emotional, powerful. I loved it. Perfect for the late nights.
September 9, 2024
Like someone's diary
April 16, 2017
2.5 There were some beautiful, resonating lines throughout. But for me, her age distracted from some of the poems- when she ruminated on marriage, it was definitely a 19-year-old's slant. That's not necessarily bad, but I'll be interested to see whether her poetry evolves with age.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews