Darrell Dela Cruz’ new book, This Is A Love Poem, Listen , earns its punctuation mark not only as an exclamation, but in the imperative delivered to the reader: pay attention. An aching honesty shines through these poems that lay bare the complications inherent in any love, whether that of parent, lover, country, or a god. Sometimes desolate, sometimes triumphant, but always with emotional precision, Dela Cruz’ speaker navigates the losses of the past, “like a cross an altar boy struggles to hold up” to arrive at a hard won self-acceptance. “Repeat, repeat. It is one way of learning,” he says, “even through continuous endings.” Listen up. You may find you didn’t really know what a love poem can be after all. A compelling read. Sally Ashton Author Listening to Mars Editor-in-Chief of DMQ Review Santa Clara County Poet Laureate. 2011-2013 ---------- These poems are ocean glass at dawn. They call us to wade in, slowly. We soon realize the struggle of riptides, the com...
This one [...] Going from 10 words or less to fourteen lines or longer was a challenge I wanted to give myself. I thought it's the perfect length because I could surely write two sonnets a day. Nope. I love a good form poem, especially a sonnet, but it's not my strong suit in two a day challenges. Instead, I just let the thought extend further to see where it took me. Two things helped in this challenge. 1. During this time, the Remarkable Paper Pro Move came out. It's an e-writing tablet that can fit in my pocket. I take this everywhere, and I'm able to write in places like restaurants, in my car at the beach, at work. It's definitely made it possible to jot down whatever thought that crosses my mind. 2. On October 4th, I was invited by Rachelle Escamilla to come down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium at night from 7:00-11:00 to see her read. I've been to the Aquarium many times in the day. It was when I was there three years...