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ubepandesol's review against another edition
I'm glad I slowly chewed on this collection; it's filled with images that capture what it's like to be elsewhere, while carrying your home with you in foreign soil. Hit me right in the feels
hellochildren's review against another edition
4.0
"In a city cremated by its residual light, would you not wish to leave your body? Child, would you not take flight? Aren't women more beautiful when they scab into beasts? Aren't mothers more lamentable when they don't die but leave?"
"Mothers are manananggals, meshing the sky that is always the color of shredded flesh."
- A Manananngal Replies to A Child
Bookmarked:
Half-Empty <3
The Making of A Smuggler
Notes inside a Balikbayan Box
To Die a Little
Nature Morte aux Tullipes
The Shaman, The Servant
Repairing English
A Manananggal Replies to A Child <3
Kayumanggi
Antiemetic for Homesickness <3
"Mothers are manananggals, meshing the sky that is always the color of shredded flesh."
- A Manananngal Replies to A Child
Bookmarked:
Half-Empty <3
The Making of A Smuggler
Notes inside a Balikbayan Box
To Die a Little
Nature Morte aux Tullipes
The Shaman, The Servant
Repairing English
A Manananggal Replies to A Child <3
Kayumanggi
Antiemetic for Homesickness <3
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
4.0
Vibrant and deeply-felt, Antiemetic for Homesickness touches on subjects not seen often enough in modern poetry. Romalyn Ante writes about her experiences growing up in the Philippines, moving to the UK, and working as a nurse. Many children in the Philippines experience a wrenching loss when a parent becomes a healthcare worker in another country in order to provide for the family. Ante writes about this loneliness: the anger and sense of abandonment, and the longing for a parent to return home. Her poems capture aspects of myth and landscape from the Philippines, and describe food, home and traditional customs. In ‘The Making of a Smuggler’, she describes trying to bridge the space between home and another country, ‘Wherever we travel, we carry / the whole country with us – / our rice terraces are folded garments, / we have pillars of trees, a rainforest / on a hairbrush.’ But this is also a collection about the health service in Britain, and the difficulties of being a nurse in an over-burdened and chaotic system. Ante talks about the resentment of patients, the unsupportive system, and also moments of important human connection. I especially admired her longer poems, where a sequence gives her space to capture the overwhelming nature of the experience of a hospital, and all the different aspects of personality and culture that a nurse brings to their work. These subjects are rarely written about in modern British poetry, and it’s refreshing to read a collection that draws on these themes, but it’s also important to note that Ante is a very accomplished poet, with a nuanced grasp of her material, and a measured yet dynamic voice.
differentsisters's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
2.0
I often feel that poetry isn’t for me. But I always want to try. While I ‘got’ occasional parts of this collection, I mainly didn’t. Which is definitely a me not meshing with poetry thing
mezzythedragon's review against another edition
3.0
The author is based in the UK, but her poetry can apply to any Filipinos in the diaspora. My favorites are "Half-empty," "Invisible Women," "Repairing English," "Mastering English," and most of all, "A Manananggal Replies to a Child." Some of the "Tape Recordings for Mama" also resonate, specifically the Tagalog proverb: "the more fruits a tree bears/the more men stone it."
marieandthebooks's review against another edition
5.0
Poetry, when it’s good, speaks to your soul. This one took me a while because after reading the first two poems, I knew I wanted to savor it. I had to read it with my mom. I had to talk to her about them. I had to reflect.
The book so perfectly captures the culture and the reality of leaving your family behind to work overseas. “Notes inside a balikbayan box” being very familiar to me. “Half-empty” the most inventive way to describe OFW’s I’ve ever read. The title poem, a bittersweet journey. It comes complete with Tagalog and alibata and as a foreigner you’ll struggle to understand. But with an estimated 10 million ofw’s this book should have a big audience still. I encourage every OFW to read this one, and every child of theirs, every partner and family member or friend who wants to understand. This is so rich with nostalgia that in itself it becomes an antiemetic for homesickness. Loved it!
The book so perfectly captures the culture and the reality of leaving your family behind to work overseas. “Notes inside a balikbayan box” being very familiar to me. “Half-empty” the most inventive way to describe OFW’s I’ve ever read. The title poem, a bittersweet journey. It comes complete with Tagalog and alibata and as a foreigner you’ll struggle to understand. But with an estimated 10 million ofw’s this book should have a big audience still. I encourage every OFW to read this one, and every child of theirs, every partner and family member or friend who wants to understand. This is so rich with nostalgia that in itself it becomes an antiemetic for homesickness. Loved it!
buta_comes_home's review against another edition
5.0
Excuse me, I need to go buy a copy because I borrowed this from a library and it is frowned upon if you just don’t return it. One for me, one for a friend... poetry to keep.