This chapbook is a collaboration between a Sri-Lankan-American “project manager, ESL teacher, former sous chef and occasional belly dance instructor” and a self-described “Chinese-Korean-American poet living in Los Angeles.” What do they have in common? They’re poets, some of their work has appeared in the same or similar journals, and both have been nominated for Best-of-the-Net and the Pushcart Prize.
They met in a workshop offered by Eric Morago, and they engaged in “magical conversations.” Even Ra is “startled” to see the similar motifs that resulted in their poems, even though they didn’t consult each other while writing them and even though their voices are not the same. Ra calls their process “mining from the same overarching consciousness.”
In one way, this is not surprising. Poetry offers universality, and the importance of this chapbook lies in how two very different people—in background, ethnicity, gender, perception, and voice—convey this universality. Not just in theme, but in desire.
Wijesinghe opens the collection with “On Las Ramblas, You Stop to Take a Photo,” in which “we plant red geraniums,” “whitewash the house,” and while “the dust still settles / into the stucco, [mark] the time // since you last said you imagine me / my younger self.” In the memory of a “girl / on the platform,” the “I” of the poem is “a girl in love / with fate’s rolled dice.”
The next poem, Ra’s “Eyes Full of Moon,” is addressed to Richard, and desire oozes through what the “I” did and did not tell Richard. One night in Prague, “I kept walking / the cobblestoned streets—all the red lights // seemed intent on speaking.” The opposite of the “I”s reticence. Then, the “I” envies the moon: “That it can fade to nothing // yet get full again.”
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Shortly after I got to know Jeremy Ra reasonably well, I remember thinking 'I would not be surprised if this fellow—surprises me.' I sensed a certain something, a combination of passion, engagement, brain power and fast-rising talent. Ah! And let's not forget this important quality: A Sense of Humor. This marvelous first collection is evidence of that "certain something," and a justification of my early hunch. It seems likely that Jeremy Ra, together with some others, will be in the forefront of the next wave of Los Angeles poets.
— Suzanne Lummis
Another Way of Loving introduces a talented young poet to a wider audience. Whether someone is making dumplings, trying to renew a subscription to the Times or tactfully leaving an apartment holding his shoes, Jeremy Ra’s poems make an indelible impression that lasts longer than any tattoo.
— Ron Koertge, author of I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickson’s Boyfriend
These exquisite poems explore the poet’s history and humanity. Steeped in revery, layered with longing, surrealism nudges up against erotica and memory, and the result, often devastating, is nothing less than brilliant. Ra’s poems chart a course both fierce and tender, taking the reader on a remarkable journey through his life and times.
— Alexis Rhone Fancher, author of Junkie Wife, poetry editor, Cultural Daily
Purchase Another Way of Loving Death through Moon Tide Press or Amazon.