There is no emergency

by Conchitina R. Cruz

Genres: Poetry

102 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Conchitina R. Cruz is Professor at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of the Philippines Diliman. She received her PhD in English from State University of New York (SUNY) Albany.

Reviews

[june · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Every not thing you occupy. / I grow a garden of holes gathering dust.”

“It wasn‘t quite graffiti, / but it would have to do.”

“The city was river was grave was ruin was monument was city again, less a bridge and neighborhood or two.”

& the entirety of titular poem and exhibition notes.

if dark hours was the existence of the city, (…)emergency is the insistence of the city—this is how u would imagine a city poem whilst in an fx ride to philcoa.

or its a there is no emergency 2024

[Roy Aragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The depth and clarity of these poems swallowed me whole, the darkness within and without made me scared and secured at the same time realizing and relishing poetry isn't all about seeking or longing for light but more so, comfortably settling behind it, in the dark.

[Zymon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revisited as part of my Conchitina Cruz reading marathon. As I’ve said in my review of her sophomore collection, her lyricism fares better in prose than line cuts. She displays expertise in navigating the city, and in this book, she dares to go beyond by mentioning countries as sites of histories. She manages to rethink postcards by reducing them into descriptions, which form images that probably differ with every reader according to experience and knowledge. She remembers hyperspecific details of memories, and so as not to forget these memories, she writes them down and collects them in this book, as if they’re notes from an exhibition she attended. These memories as well as the overall format are arranged quite formally, but the narrative is meandering. And that’s the point! The connection among images is often interrupted throughout the sections and lyric sequences because the goal is not to be completely coherent, but to summon some sense of emotion, perhaps wistfulness, as we jump from one random yet relatable image to another.

[renzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dearest—. My fingers follow the fault lines.

ive been obsessed with there is no emergency for quite a while now and its exciting to finally read the collection named after it and it doesnt disappoint! its full of heavy hitters! yan ang pinoy!!

favorite poems: there is no emergency & arrest

[Panganorin]

ang ganda huhuhu

[juyeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

she can never go wrongggg