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yet to its post it will return."
This poetry collection pays homage to Mavulis Island, the Philippines' northernmost island. In these verses, the island takes on a personality entirely its own. The poems' speaker describes Mavulis as "the lonely island"—a place "where oceans meet" and the island "waits" as "the edge, the end." Other islands, like Crete, also take a poetic stage, and it serves as a strong reminder of an island's existence: "An island is never only stone." Mavulis emerges in these verses as an all-knowing, all-seeing entity that knows yet "says nothing" about what the world needs and demands. Storms, tempests, and warships may roll, but the island stands stalwart and timeless despite the world's spinning and journeys ending. These poems also remind the book's audience that even though humankind may lay claim to such islands, islands like Mavulis—and nature overall—carry "the hope of a people / and the freedom of a world."
What works adeptly in this poetry collection is the speaker's personification of the island. Landscapes are not merely landscapes. They are living, breathing entities with stories of their own to tell. The historical and personal anecdotes woven into these verses add a philosophical dimension. For those who appreciate formal poetry, many of these poems utilize formal structures. The rhyming in these particular poems resonates with the maritime theme that runs through the collection. Also, the speaker's deep affection for Mavulis shines in the collection's concluding pieces: "For freedom lives where seas collide, / my island, Mavulis, my guide." This is a unique collection that will speak to anyone who possesses a deep love for the landscapes from which they hail and call home.