Below: Absence: Poems

by Cyril Wong

In this third collection, Cyril Wong's poems wrestle with the emptiness underlying the everyday, in the hope of recovering new justifications for a more meaningful existence. His poetry moves from the exploration of love to articulating the demands of loss and memory.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Cyril Wong is a two-time Singapore Literature Prize-winning poet and the recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award for Literature. His books include poetry collections Tilting Our Plates to Catch the Light (2007) and The Lover’s Inventory (2015), novels The Last Lesson of Mrs de Souza (2013) and This Side of Heaven (2020), and fiction collection Ten Things My Father Never Taught Me (2014). He completed his doctoral degree in English Literature at the National University of Singapore in 2012. His works have been featured in the Norton anthology, Language for a New Century, in Chinese Erotic Poems by Everyman’s Library, and in magazines and journals around the world. His writings have been translated into Turkish, German, Italian, French, Portuguese and Japanese.

Reviews

[Andrew H · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting though uneven collection. The title is taken from the opening poem, "Foetus", which intimates new life. The poems look outwards and inwards into poetry and how poems are made. The poems speak most lucidly when they seek absences and bring new awarenesses into life. "Reveleation" is a fine poem, cancelling out Revelations with a lyrical composition that celebrates a body "like a word in its own revelation." The "word", not the Word, creativity, not the Creator. Some of the longer poems, such as "Friends", are generic, sermonising, and over-long. The poetry, at times, turns so far inward into the craft of poetry that it sounds like Theory and consequently disconnects from the life of the poem and the life of the reader. Generally, a thoughtful and exploratory collection in which the author investigates the range of his writing.

[yamiyoghurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of poems that explore emotions. The words chosen are simple and clean, yet when put together convey a deeper meaning.

[Jericho Eames · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Cyril and his books. They sing songs of longing and hoping for a better change. Somehow in this volume, I saw everything through gloomy lenses on a rainy day, curled up with hot cocoa. It feels foreign but so comforting.

[Julie Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of poems in a mostly urban setting made me sigh, weep, hug myself in the privacy of my bedroom, and long for an end to solitude through forgiveness, self-love, and the carving out of an even deeper wisdom.

[Chin Jian xiong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotional and confessional poetry collection.

Those that particularly stand out to me are grandmother, guardian angel,blueprint, San Francisco, Sonoma Country: California, friends and happiness.

[None Of · Rating 1 out of 5]

more navel gazing

[Joely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the poems were a bit too stylized for me. This collection of poems is almost like a date that starts with not understanding ends in compassion and feeling.

[Charissa Ty · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's really not that bad.