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stefhyena's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A lot of this poetry is about the violence of colonialism and about rape-culture (violence against women) but it's beautifully written albeit angry/sad (as it should be). Even when Andrada goes off in a different direction to write about insomnia or friendships or whatever...there is this lush deep word-forest.
I am a bit jealous of how good this is (the skill!) but also I am happy I read it and will reread. IDK how she's not more well known but maybe that's still going to happen.
I am a bit jealous of how good this is (the skill!) but also I am happy I read it and will reread. IDK how she's not more well known but maybe that's still going to happen.
littlerah's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
"For my human body to be seen as the centre
of a poem, it must be buoyant" (3).
I've wanted to read Andrada's work for a while. I still haven't had the chance to read Flood Damages but reading this means that I will definitely be looking for it. The collection here explores acts of violence, colonialism and rape and their interweaving effects, specifically in relation to the Filipina community. It is chilling and powerful.
"we have no choice but to be
intimate with disaster" (28).
My favourite poems were:
of a poem, it must be buoyant" (3).
I've wanted to read Andrada's work for a while. I still haven't had the chance to read Flood Damages but reading this means that I will definitely be looking for it. The collection here explores acts of violence, colonialism and rape and their interweaving effects, specifically in relation to the Filipina community. It is chilling and powerful.
"we have no choice but to be
intimate with disaster" (28).
My favourite poems were:
- instead of finding water (17)
- repatriation (51)
- visitations (54)
- Etymology of Care (64)
archytas's review
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
5.0
"I write the poem so it lives outside my body"
This is an extraordinary collection. I've been reading more poetry lately, and much of it hits me in the head, and others in the feels, but this is the first in many months that hit me hard in both. This is poetry that needs to be written and needs to be heard.
Andrada's words fall soft sometimes and harder at others but always land with emotion. She excels at the short story in a few lines "Tita throws a party in Ming-ao./It doesn't matter what anyone wears./The soldiers come down from the base/to get drunk". Through the volume, Andrada explores elements of Pinoy experience - especially with rape - but also with work migration, celebration and family.
The Anthropocene-themed "Instead of finding water" destroyed me. It's too long to quote without republishing, but on the line "I was going to make myself/Last" it got more than a little dusty in the room. (This is a feat, as it is a poem partly about mangoes, which I loath). I can't wait to read more Andrada, and while this volume has been described as devastating, it reads like an act of love as well as a cry for change.
"I write the poem to bury the endings"
This is an extraordinary collection. I've been reading more poetry lately, and much of it hits me in the head, and others in the feels, but this is the first in many months that hit me hard in both. This is poetry that needs to be written and needs to be heard.
Andrada's words fall soft sometimes and harder at others but always land with emotion. She excels at the short story in a few lines "Tita throws a party in Ming-ao./It doesn't matter what anyone wears./The soldiers come down from the base/to get drunk". Through the volume, Andrada explores elements of Pinoy experience - especially with rape - but also with work migration, celebration and family.
The Anthropocene-themed "Instead of finding water" destroyed me. It's too long to quote without republishing, but on the line "I was going to make myself/Last" it got more than a little dusty in the room. (This is a feat, as it is a poem partly about mangoes, which I loath). I can't wait to read more Andrada, and while this volume has been described as devastating, it reads like an act of love as well as a cry for change.
"I write the poem to bury the endings"
georgiarybanks's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Misogyny, and Racism