"We unfold each other's bodies like maps,
with their coordinates and meridians.
Here at last, we say, we can be imperial."
Loose Tongue is Carlomar Daoana's fourth anthology of poems that contains some of his lyrical creations in the past twelve years. This book also collectively houses some of his works as a young writer that were also previously featured in various publications.
Probably his most intimate suite of poetry yet, Daoana shares his personal experiences and diverse states of mind allowing the reader to observe his growth both as a person discovering his self and a writer chronicling his memories through literature.
"For me, the authenticity is there because I experienced them; similar to capturing a memory, something that happened to my life. We record things, we post photos on Instagram, so for me, it's a way of marking that experience through poetry," Daoana shared.
He chronologically shows his experiences of travelling, mountain climbing, appreciating art, battling insomnia, realizing the emergence of love and loss, among many others, displaying a personality that is timeless; vulnerable yet punctually braided with strength and complex imagination.
There are a lot of instances when the poet talks about endings, he tenderly muses over finite moments, either glimpses of anecdotes that cannot be relived again, or the acceptance of a pending loss and death. However, this voice is youthful, almost sounding triumphant in its endless wander through life.
The poet shares not only the vigorous events in his life, but also the essence of experiencing the world, willingly and wholly permitting all elements of its reality to permeate his skin, and with his pure and elegant expressionism, he is able to let it touch on the readers' own.
"I would want a young person to actually read it and enjoy it and find some kind of correlation with his or her life with those poems," he said.
A definite page turner, but one that requires time for the reader to breathe and attempt to digest its beautiful metaphors and descriptions before moving on to the next. And also a time out to calm the goosebumps you get from imagining and feeling the freshest air and wind through your hair, the defiance of gravity from a certain peak, or a forlorn image that leaves a void in your gut.
The first poem will make you fall in love with his poetry almost immediately, as he describes dawn, talks about letting go, and likens fireflies to erased stars. Two things are for sure: with this collection, it's hard to play favorites and you can keep reading it til you can make its words almost yours to keep.
The works in this book have a fondness to romanticize nature, both in the worldly and personal sense, as it attempts to show its interconnected and inevitable chemistry, and how it takes a play on one's being. Here, the poet is hungry, honest, and compelling, entitling the world to engulf him and his senses entirely.
"Looking back, I realize everything of it
was perfect--your eyes shy at the briefest
touching with mine, the way we avoided
this love which was meant to be bigger
than us, following us towards the day light,
blessing the corridors of a beautiful world--
in a way not one of us could ever predict."
Negros Museum, June 13
LOOSE TONGUE: POEMS 2001-2013
Carlomar Arcangel Daoana
University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2014
Paperback: ₽300.00
Quotes lifted from Khaila Gurion, Philippine Star
No comments