A Theory of Wounds

"i grew as wild as the weeds / i ran as free as the wind" In her debut collection, Kayla Van Rosenveld maps the transition from a half-savage childhood to the complex architecture of adulthood. The journey begins in the sun-ripened gardens of South Africa, where bare feet and orange-stained fingers define a kingdom of pre-adolescent bliss. The narrative shifts as the "muck and mire" of memory takes hold, exploring the quiet, often painful realisation of a queer identity. These poems document the hot air of unasked questions and the specific ache of first loves that were never meant to stay. As the wildness of youth fades into the persistence of the present, the collection enters the clinical space of psychiatrist‘s prescriptions and the necessity of starting over. What remains is a strikingly honest look at the anatomy of memory and the body‘s capacity to survive its own history. A Theory of Wounds is a testament to the long road back to oneself.