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Today's poem is "Swarm"
from Reliquaria

University of Nebraska Press

R. A. Villanueva was born in New Jersey and lives in Brooklyn. His honors include the 2013 Ninth Letter Literary Award for poetry and fellowships from Kundiman and the Asian American Literary Review. His writing has appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review, AGNI, Bellevue Literary Review, and elsewhere. A founding editor of Tongue: A Journal of Writing & Art, he teaches at New York University.

Books by R. A. Villanueva:

Other poems on the web by R. A. Villanueva:
Two poems
"Teacher's Prayer"
"You Will Drown For Poems"
"Fish Heads"
"Confluences"
Two poems

R. A. Villanueva's Website.

R. A. Villanueva on Twitter.

About Reliquaria:

"The texture of R. A. Villanueva’s words stay in the mouth, shards of what is sacred, still is sacred: linguistic memento mori, if you will, that preserve and keep alive. Take your time with this glorious collection. Breathe in: ‘black eggs,’ ‘pomade,’ ‘concertina wire,’ ‘wreathed in gauze,’ and ‘Nakalimutan mo na ako. You // have already forgotten me.’ I dare say you will not forget these remains that Villanueva has saved for us."
—Kimiko Hahn

"These vivid and deeply lived poems question ‘every delicate gift we have thrown away.’ Villanueva searches the world for the divine and—gorgeous poem by poem—he finds it."
—Idra Novey

"R. A. Villanueva reminds us that poetry is a space haunted by history, so we try ‘to name ghosts, to face them, dark as they are.’ He musters an impressive courage to take up the task. And we’re rewarded not just by Villanueva’s immense thrill for language but by his ability to fuse the body’s fact with the body’s mystery. This is a terrific debut."
—Patrick Rosal



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