The Love of a Certain Age

by Charlie Samuya Veric

Genres: Poetry

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Born in Aklan, Veric was educated in Diliman, Katipunan, and New Haven where he earned his doctorate in American Studies from Yale University. A widely published author, he teaches at the Ateneo.

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gay love between an old man and a young man expressed beautifully in poetry. I am not sure if Veric has Neruda as his major influence or I am a Neruda's fan so I look for him in the works of other poets. In other words, when I read the works of other poets I try to find Neruda. An example of this is page 171: "What is wrong with the world? O ode to the fugue. Make me understand the beauty of discord. Take the disconsolate Muhammad when he is forty years old..." Remember Neruda's "Ode to a Beautiful Nude"? And that line asking his reader to do something. There is a bit of Neruda there and in some other verses in this book.

My daughter has Netflix in her condo unit in McKinley. So, each time I visit her place, I watch a movie or two. In the recent visits I saw a couple of films about aging gays like "Bwakaw" that top bills the late Eddie Garcia as an old gay man living alone and "Isa Pang Bahaghari" with Michael de Mesa as an aging gay still in love with Philip Salvador who loves Nora Aunor. So, when I saw this book by Veric in Shoppee-UP Press, I said why not? Gay love is the same as any kind of love. There is an emotion in it and emotions in poetry are the best because you'll feel it without having to spend hours reading a book.

The only thing that I found quite boring is the first few poems. I had to wait for a number of pages before finally finding that melancholic emotion of a 40-year old man for his young lover. Or maybe I was not able to decipher the poems. I could be me as poetry needs not be direct. Maybe I missed reading between those beautiful verses.

[Kat Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 2.5

This is a poetry collection about a man's expression of love towards a younger lover he met online. It was melancholic and it dove deeply into multitude of things surrounding their encounter (i.e. metaphors of using Grindr, the app).

However, unfortunately, this was one of those books that wasn't meant for me. Though I found the prose beautiful, I don't think I've grasped its true purpose within its lines & there could be a lot of reasons why would that be. Nevertheless, if you feel like the premise speaks to you, I encourage you to pick it up. This wasn't for me, but maybe it is for you.

[Eron Bituin · Rating 5 out of 5]

kung usapin lang rin ng espasyo at pagtingin sa posisyonalidad ng parehong edad at kasarian, ang mga tula mula sa koleksyon na ito ang nagpapakita sa dinuduldol ng lipunan-ang pakiramdam sa pagitan ng hiya at pagnanais na naisin rin.

[bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll forget about this poetry collection after some time. Maybe I'll read it then to see it with fresh eyes, perhaps with new longing and sadness, too.

[elderfoil...the whatever champion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovingly and thoughtfully rendered, Mr. Veric brings home the melancholy and aching efforts of finding love (of all sorts). Well done, Sir Charlie!