Book Review: Poems redefine identity in I Am In Bed With You

You know you’re in for something different when the opening line of a book reads: “The woman impregnated the man and his belly swelled full of tadpoles.” In truth, ‘something different’ doesn’t even scratch the surface of Emma Barnes’ poetry collection, I Am In Bed With You.

Superbly structured, the collection is made up of three parts which combine in a neo-contemporary exploration of identity and relationships, teasing apart the construct of individualism to triumphantly reveal that “a human is made up of so many others”. It’s collectivity that forms the individual rather than the other way around.

Part one, ‘This is a creation myth’, is framed by an excerpt from a poem by the self-described black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet, Audre Lorde. The quote reads: “I am deliberate and afraid of nothing” and echoes Lorde’s self-perceived “duty to speak the truth as I see it” and dedication to sharing “not just the triumphs” but also “the pain, the intense, often unmitigating pain”. In the poems that follow, Barnes proves that they, too, are committed to this cause softening no part of the crunchy, painful journey towards self-actualisation for the sake of the reader. Be prepared for lines that’ll cut you like a hot knife through butter.

Part two, ‘Sigourney Weaver in your Dreams’, seems to be a besotted ode to the actress of the same name. Both mundane and wildly flamboyant, with topics like the narrator giving birth to Sigourney Weaver’s android baby, there’s a sense of ease not present in part one. Perhaps a nod to the euphoria that comes with finding people who treasure you, for you. The book is, in part, dedicated to Barnes’ chosen family after all.

Part three is framed by another quote, this time from Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts. It reads:

“...Just because you have enemies does not mean you have to be paranoid… There is nothing you can throw at me that I cannot metabolise, no thing impervious to my alchemy.”

The resolve to not be lost in the face of adversity, resonates strongly throughout the poems that follow. The tone is grounded, confident, fearless and is the most accessible part of the collection. It explores interconnectedness - the distance and proximity that can exist between people, and between the different selves that make up who we are.

I Am In Bed With You is poetry that reaches out and slaps you in the face. Gritty, astonishing and undeniably beautiful, it riffs on the pairing of identity and individualism, on sex and gender. Barnes uses deeply evocative language and creates vivid images that knock the air out of you. Nothing is too disturbing, nothing is too sacred.

Content warnings: abandonment, suicidal ideation, eating disorders and drug use.