DEPARTMENT of Filipino faculty member Mark Angeles brings 15 years of poetic mastery to his latest collection, “Wasakan ng Puso,” a personal exploration of love in its many forms. 

Angeles’s collection explores the complexities of romantic relationships to the psychological nuances of love, the psychology of love, or love for one’s nation.

“Wasak ang puso [ng] marami sa atin [dahil] sa sari-sariling dahilan. Ang mga danas na ito ang inukit sa mga pahina ng aklat na ito,” Angeles said in the book’s description

Published by 8Letters Bookstore and Publishing, “Wasakan ng Puso” strays from Angeles’s usual erotic poetry and spicy writing style. 

While the book still contains the occasional erotic poem, Angeles took a more subtle approach as he depicts various aspects of love and the many ways in which it manifests. 

The poems burst with vivid imagery and a curiosity about the exact nature of human feeling, often likening its abstract qualities to mundane, everyday objects. 

An example of this is the line, “Alin ang puso mo? Papel na lilipad, gunting na magtitilad, o batong titibag?” found in his poem titled, Papel, Gunting, Bato.”

Each poem has a verbose quality, but readers are able to recite them easily. 

May it be the current of wind, a butterfly’s wings, or an umbrella, “Wasakan ng Puso” suggests that love is a universal force found in trivial, everyday life and transcends the boundaries of time and space. 

The work also includes translations of existing works, such as “Waray” by Jerry Gracio, former senior writer for ABS-CBN; “Kinaray-a” by Genevieve Asenjo, a Filipino poet and novelist; and “Sebwano” by Cindy Velasquez, a Cebuano translator and editor. 

Wasakan ng Puso” is available at the online store of 8Letters Bookstore and Publishing

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