Sherell Watson's debut poetry collection, Even If My Hands Were Full, is an overflowing love letter to its readers, taking us on a wild journey through the many kinds of devotion our hearts can get tangled in. In this work, love is certainly the answer to every question, but it also causes and inspires each one of those doubts in a compelling loop that allows us to really, examine what it is to desire and be, desired. While loss plays a huge role in Watson's poems, she's also aware of being the pillar for someone else, "The one you seek for advice and love and comfort and heat in the darkest hour." Even If My Hands Were Full knows this darkest hour, but the collection also opens up our mind and spirit to show us what aspects of life are truly deserving of our attention. We begin in a place of deep honesty, unafraid of the uncertainty that lost love can bring, and through powerful rhythms and rhymes we learn that there is strength in vulnerability, and true knowledge to be gained when love is found: "we exist / once our lips touch, /as soon as we kiss..." Watson assures us in "Kissing You." Unfolding a profound understanding of the transformative power of loss and desire, and the cleansing energy of self-awareness, these lines get at the heart of a speaker coming to terms with her own agency and power in relationships. Even If My Hands Were Full lights the way, shining as an affirmation and showing us we hold the key to unlocking our happiness: "On this day I rise and vow to change this moment, this minute, this hour."
