HORAS IMPOSIBLES / THE IMPOSSIBLE HOURS

HORAS IMPOSIBLES / THE IMPOSSIBLE HOURS

QUINTANILLA, OCTAVIO

LIBRO IMPRESO

$313

DESCRIPCIÓN

INFORMACIÓN GENERAL

COMENTARIOS

Presented in Spanish with English translations, this poetry collection comprises lyric and concrete poemsor frontextosthat explore intimacy and different shades of violence as a means to reconcile the speakers sense of belonging in the world. From the opening poem to the last in the first section, Quintanilla captures the perilous journeys that migrants undertake crossing borders as well as the paths that lovers forge to meet their endless longing. These themes are skillfully woven by Quintanilla, guiding us back and forth across the Rio Grande to encounter the apparitions of the disappeared and to witness the willingness of many to risk life and limb for a better life. The second half of the collection is one long poem, a letter addressed to a lost lover who will never get to read the speakers secret thoughts. Haunted by lossof parents, of children, of the selfthe speaker reaches an inevitable epiphany: [A]nd sometimes its hard to know / on which side of the river I stand. Stylistically, these poems destabilize our notions and expectations of genre and lyricism.