Midwest Mary

Open the stunning cover of Kimberly Vargas Agnese’s new book, Kadupul Flower: Poems, and her poetry comes alive through the voices of her characters and visual descriptions. Topics are heartfelt, featuring the homeless, underprivileged, immigrants, and ethnically diverse, as well as current environmental conditions. Readers vividly see and hear those who are portrayed.

I volunteered to review a free digital copy of Kimberly’s book. However, I was already a fan and am now hooked. To learn more about this book and the book tour, see Stephanie’s Ninth Suitcase.

When reading Kimberly’s poetry, we are immersed in the drama as it unfolds. We are in the supermercado with young Blanca and her Papa in “You Don’t Check the Teeth” as she asks for a piñata for her birthday while she “hopscotches over store tiles, past the old woman whose face reminds her of the eggs in the refrigerator where cartons of horchata, milk and other white things are sold to brown ladies standing under figurines of saints that the old woman says are charming.”

We understand exactly what’s happening while reading, the opening verses in the poem, “Sitting in the Sun.”

“Out in the country beyond faded picket lines corralling crepe myrtles, an old gas pump and an American flag, I squat in the two by four shadow of my SUV, squinting against sunlight, horse flies, and tractor dust.”

Kimberly writes poetry that begs to be read and reread. Her writing is thoughtful, meaningful, and memorable, and so beautifully written that the words dance across the page and into our hearts.

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Fellow bloggers, have you noticed that I am having trouble keeping up? I love all of you, and I want to read your posts, but I receive more than 1,000 notifications and move faster through them than I’d like.

If you post more than once a week, and especially if you post several times each day, I simply can’t read all of these delightful and insightful messages but know that I care about you and what you have to say.

©Mary K. Doyle, 2025