cornelio3's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
bankrupt_bookworm's review
4.0
"There was nowhere else to be but in bed
with you who wears her tiredness well.
We'll retire for chitchat, substitute the beds
in our dorm rooms for capsule beds in love
motels with rooms adorned with frescoes
of saints over a congregation of souls—
our bed, a congress's fevered with ghosts
of skin, hands, our fluid stains, a bed alit
in this goon republic where our commander
has declared our eyes, our seeing, a capital
offense; a semaphore flag for public unrest.
Your hip against mine, your limbs to my lips
like on out first parting at the campus rally
where we sealed what parting cancels."
RATING: 4.5/5
Nacirema, American spelt in reverse, is a term used in social sciences in relation to aspects of behaviour and society of US citizens to consciously create self-distancing, enabling US social scientists to talk about their own culture objectively. Nacirema, a fluid entity, becomes a way in for Gloria to talk about all that has horribly gone wrong in America, the Philippines, and everything between, in the 21st Century. The poems have an inner music of their own, a heaving, heady ballad-esque quality to them. Contemporary events are mixed with Biblical references to create a lyrical hybrid. It's like an incandescent soundtrack of our discontented times. Gloria provides an alternative to the current scenario as a way of pushing against it.
with you who wears her tiredness well.
We'll retire for chitchat, substitute the beds
in our dorm rooms for capsule beds in love
motels with rooms adorned with frescoes
of saints over a congregation of souls—
our bed, a congress's fevered with ghosts
of skin, hands, our fluid stains, a bed alit
in this goon republic where our commander
has declared our eyes, our seeing, a capital
offense; a semaphore flag for public unrest.
Your hip against mine, your limbs to my lips
like on out first parting at the campus rally
where we sealed what parting cancels."
RATING: 4.5/5
Nacirema, American spelt in reverse, is a term used in social sciences in relation to aspects of behaviour and society of US citizens to consciously create self-distancing, enabling US social scientists to talk about their own culture objectively. Nacirema, a fluid entity, becomes a way in for Gloria to talk about all that has horribly gone wrong in America, the Philippines, and everything between, in the 21st Century. The poems have an inner music of their own, a heaving, heady ballad-esque quality to them. Contemporary events are mixed with Biblical references to create a lyrical hybrid. It's like an incandescent soundtrack of our discontented times. Gloria provides an alternative to the current scenario as a way of pushing against it.
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