EXISTENTIAL woes take center stage in “Juggernaut,” a poetry collection that examines the complex, messy beauty of being human, authored by a surgeon, Alyza Taguilaso.
The collection is divided into 17 parts, featuring her background in medicine. It elicits both horror and empathy, surprising the readers with the emotional depth of her writing.
An example is an early poem in the collection, titled “Three Bodies,” which details the story of three children whose organs were sold in the black market.
Taguilaso’s collection also offers a dissection of the nation in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, shedding light on the dehumanization that frontliners faced during the critical period.
One case that illustrates this is the line, “The world encourages you to risk your life, daily. It’s your duty as a doctor now. Never mind your dreams, or fears of dying,” from the poem titled, “From the Early Days of the Plague, 21st Century.”
The last part of the collection, titled “The Story of Love,” portrays the purpose of human existence as an endless search for love, suggesting that there is inherent beauty to be found despite the ugliness of the universe.
In this concluding part, Taguilaso makes the case that love and loss are core tenets of the human condition, and must not be taken without the other.
The interdependent relationship between love and loss is best exemplified through the line, “Why people keep dead things in museums: we like to keep what was in the past but we avoid anything that tells of passing.”
Channeling her personal and professional turmoils, Taguilaso combines her roles as poet and healthcare worker into a collection that makes for a gripping read.
Published by the UST Publishing House in 2024, the collection exudes arresting, evocative imagery.
“Juggernaut” is available at the onsite and online stores of the UST Publishing House.
