Jasmine Erice-Harling's THE SYMPTOMS OF LIVING is a collection of gothic poems that explore generational trauma, mental health struggles, addiction, bodily autonomy, perseverance, and other intense themes. Organized into segments, the book follows a journey from early life through inherited suffering and personal transformation.
Erice-Harling’s unique talent is her ability to blend psychological pain and raw emotion with striking visuals. In THE SYMPTOMS OF LIVING, generational trauma is depicted as “Premeditated cuts wrapped up with pretty black ribbons,” while recovery is described as something “passed through bloodlines.” The collection often presents emotional inheritance as both biological and unavoidable, which gives many poems an unsettling feeling of inevitability.
Several poems in the collection focus on childhood trauma and the loss of innocence. For example, “Child” reflects the pain of being forced to take on adult responsibilities with lines like “The middleman of screaming matches / I did not understand.” In another segment, “Adult” reveals a longing for the days when one could dream up magical worlds and play princess and dragon instead of acting as a marriage counselor. The emotional candor throughout these works gives them a particularly strong impact.
In other parts of the collection, the author extensively uses vivid imagery related to the body that produce a powerful impact. One notable example is “The Teeth You Gave Me,” which has a recurring line that makes the poem really stand out as a gripping examination of inherited violence: “I was not born with blood in mouth / Or skin between my teeth.” The poem’s repeating structure shows how abuse can continue from one generation to the next unless someone actively breaks the cycle.
At times, the collection risks becoming overly elaborate with its use of metaphor and gothic imagery. Some poems pile visuals so thickly that their emotional quality gets lost under the language. Still, despite these moments of excess, genuine feeling runs through THE SYMPTOMS OF LIVING and saves it from seeming insincere or theatrical. The author shows impressive command over form—moving easily through rigid repeating patterns, honest free verse, and lyrical refrains laced throughout different sections. This mixture keeps the pace lively even when tackling heavy themes, and it underscores the recurring cycles of trauma, addiction, and inherited traits that link the poems together.
Jasmine Erice-Harling’s THE SYMPTOMS OF LIVING delivers an intense, haunting poetry collection that blends gothic style with candid explorations of trauma, inheritance, and perseverance. Its raw emotional truth and vivid imagery make a compelling and lasting impression on readers.
~ Megan Parker for IndieReader