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lauren_endnotes's review against another edition
4.0
"And with good luck,
We will swim in the pool of a human being's memory."
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Beasts Behave in Foreign Land: Poems by Ruth Irupé Sanabria
Many of Irupé Sanabria's poems retrace her family's biography. Born in Argentina during the "Dirty War", her parents were 'disappeared' when she was a toddler... In the case of her mother, imprisoned and the exiled to the US.
Many of the poems retrace these early memories of separation, of other families broken by the military dictatorships. In one such poem, Sanabria uses a brilliant device of interspersing lines of a childhood fable her mother told her mixed with testimony of her mother's disappearance. "Mother, Daughter, Soldier, Ten Ants, and One Turtle: An Intertextual Fable/Testimony in Translation" is one of the early poems, and one of the highlights of the collection.
Still in the early stages of my #readingargentina project, and I know the history and personal narratives of the Guerra Sucia - Dirty War (1976-1983) are just now being written/translated. So many stories still coming out of identified remains, reunited children, and the informants who worked with the regime.
Peace and order are tenuous.
We will swim in the pool of a human being's memory."
.
.
Beasts Behave in Foreign Land: Poems by Ruth Irupé Sanabria
Many of Irupé Sanabria's poems retrace her family's biography. Born in Argentina during the "Dirty War", her parents were 'disappeared' when she was a toddler... In the case of her mother, imprisoned and the exiled to the US.
Many of the poems retrace these early memories of separation, of other families broken by the military dictatorships. In one such poem, Sanabria uses a brilliant device of interspersing lines of a childhood fable her mother told her mixed with testimony of her mother's disappearance. "Mother, Daughter, Soldier, Ten Ants, and One Turtle: An Intertextual Fable/Testimony in Translation" is one of the early poems, and one of the highlights of the collection.
Still in the early stages of my #readingargentina project, and I know the history and personal narratives of the Guerra Sucia - Dirty War (1976-1983) are just now being written/translated. So many stories still coming out of identified remains, reunited children, and the informants who worked with the regime.
Peace and order are tenuous.
dtpsweeney's review
3.0
There are some real standout, knockout poems in this collection: “Distance,” about generations being separated by migration, is loaded and taut; “Latin American Women Writing in Exile” blew me away with lines like “we will reincarnate / in the wet breath of the offspring’s offspring / who is telling a story.” The poem “Exit 9” is the reason that I bought the collection, and a real favorite for me. I’ve revisited it many times while out on the road. I’m glad I read this collection. Not all the poems landed with me, but the ones that did were worth the journey.
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