Rating poetry is hard. I still have the suspicion that when I don't get it or think it's silly/pretentious/being overly obscure on purpose it's because I'm not interrogating the text from the correct perspective. But hey, that's my issue.

Here are the ones that really worked for me:

- "Glossary of Terms," especially that I could go back and reference it and feel like I was getting another layer out of some of the other poems. Also some of the individual bits, like "Star" x "Dreams of being:" "reached".

- "A Brief History of Cyborgs" - repetition used v well

- "Afterlife"

- "Perchance to Dream"

- "Chi," though I don't know the source material (Chobits). Would rec reading the third section aloud, if just to yourself.

- "Chatroulette"

- "Turing Test_Love" - especially

remember / all humans / are cyborgs / all cyborgs / are sharp shards of sky / wrapped in meat / be delicate / as you approach this subject / not all humans are ready / to call themselves / glass stalactites / pissing the bed / remember / they love their blood / even as they retch / at the smell of it

and

remember / where all that silicon comes from / for the ocean so loved / the quartz / feldspar / the tiny homes of tiny creatures / that she ground them / into sand / to keep them close / to kiss them with / well / I suppose you would call it / a mouth

See also "Glossary of Terms"!

- "Solitude"

- many but not all parts of "Perihelion: A History of Touch"

(Choi is queer, but this book only talks about straight relationships & sexuality.) ( )

Very much an impulse selection at the library. It seemed dimly familiar, as if I'd heard of it somewhere, but I couldn't remember where. Once I opened it though, I was instantly in love.

Written from the point of view of a cyborg, these poems examine humanity, gender, intelligence, grief, sexuality, compassion, and more. I loved too many poems to call out favorites, was too moved to write clever critique. I kept this book out of the library WAY too long and racked up WAY too many fines and I will need to order my own copy to keep if this quarantine ever ends and I have to one day return it.

Shockingly vulnerable, yet incredibly cerebral at the same time. All the stars. ( )

Choi has a mastery of words that I haven't seen in a while. Reading these poems made me feel like I know her a little bit, and some of them felt like a gut punch. I'm glad I recommended this volume to our library for purchasing. Full review to follow. ( )

Soft Science is so goddamn seering! Choi's concept is high but she pulls off the interweaving of technology and scientific vocabulary with vulnerability and (as much as one can) raw all too human experiences.