Two Worlds

From the Hip
Crickette Yu-Tantoco

The reception toward poetry is always shifting between adulation and disdain. We love it one moment and hate it the next. One thing is certain: poetry has never been popular or mainstream reading. I have been working on a two-year project to publish my daughter’s book: a compilation of poems since she was 14. I was told that poetry books don’t sell, and I did have a very difficult time publishing this book. I was told only cookbooks sell.
This is terribly discouraging to young budding writers. Fortunately many wonderful souls have helped me on this two-year journey. I am proud to say that the book will finally come out this week amid all the difficulties. I am going to attempt to do a review of my daughter’s book, albeit tinged with a mother’s bias.

Two Worlds by Nicole Tantoco is a compilation of the mature, intelligent and sophisticated thoughts and emotions of a teenage girl facing the distinct challenges that mark one’s adolescent years.

In the titular poem, the author writes:

“Belonging in neither, accepted in none;
There’s no place that you really belong;”

Like her poem, Nicole is in that awkward stage that no one truly remembers with fondness, which is adolescence. Not a child anymore but not quite an adult yet, our teen years are often the most turbulent. These are characterized by intense and raw emotions, the realization that many of the beliefs that have been handed down to us by what we believed to be infallible institutions, are riddled with contradictions. It is in our teens when we experiment with radical ideas and concepts, when peer-group acceptance becomes a matter of life and death, and when we rebel just because we can. Navigating through these years can often be a traumatic journey.

Two Worlds is a poignant and powerful expression of such a journey. It is the author’s attempt to navigate through the rough waters of her adolescent years, and the strife this often brings. The theme of being torn between two opposing forces carries itself throughout her poetry.

There is the theme of love as a wonderful discovery versus love as a painful experience:

“You inspire me to be,
All that I aspire to see,
All the love that I can share,
With you and people everywhere.”
—Ode to Ma Cherie

 

“All my hard toil is gone,
In the end that rascal won;
The rascal sent from up above,
The evil villainess called love;
I tried to stop myself from falling,
And yet again, I fell;
I fell when I heard passion calling,
And I landed in this hell.”
—Forbidden

The theme of childhood innocence vs. adult cynicism:
“The rain pours down on me;
The sun beats on my back;
This place was once pretty;
Now all I see is black;
I have grown, I have aged,
My innocence is gone
I’m too big for this cage.”
—Minefield

The theme of religious faith vs. doubt:

“Oh Holy God from up above,
How dare I question your love?
When I know I was merely created from the ground;
Who am I to scorn you, to which my greatest debt is bound.”
—Psalm of Repentance

“And lo, He the Father who knows all;
Led me to receive this consuming fall;
With knowledge that I was too weak to get out;
Is it a wonder that I hold His love in doubt?”
—Oh Father, Where Art Thou?

And the recurring theme of choosing life vs. death:
“I want to die, but I want to live;
I’m not sure which side of me will give.”
—Terms of Bereavement

While Nicole’s poems appear to be the product of an anxious adolescence, they are remarkable for the maturity and sophistication of the thoughts and insights, and the complexity of the subject matters that are tackled. (Her reflections on prejudice are especially penetrating.) This is particularly startling when one considers her age and fairly sheltered existence. Each of the work presented in this book strikes a universal chord of emotion in the reader, no matter how young or old.

With her first published book, Nicole embarks on a new and exciting journey that will, hopefully, lead her to a place of distinction and honor.