What Remains

by Claudia Delfina Cardona

Poetry. Latinx Studies. Women's Studies. Winner of the Fall 2020 Host Publication Chap Book Prize. WHAT REMAINS is a collection of poems propelled by impulse, desire and an ancestral sense of longing. These poems are experiential; they exist within the dark and splendid catacombs of the body, in dusty moonlit Texas nights, and invite us into their own glittery mythos of what it means to be a young woman falling in and out of love in San Antonio.

WHAT REMAINS begins with a portrait of a Brown girl growing up in San a girl whose "tongue [is] burnt from gas station coffee," and who wears "a name dipped in gold." She invites us to "lay [our] head / on [her] chest and listen," to stir "your margarita / with a chamoy-coated straw," and to play "a guessing game of gunshot / or firework." We settle into the rich and storied landscape of San Antonio just in time to be lunged into a dimension of lust, loving, and longing, "toward someplace too dark for us to see--," only to return to what remains.

Genres: Poetry

45 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2020

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems are gorgeous and contemplative and haunting and will kick around in my brain forever. I love poems that tell stories, and Claudia constructs narratives so beautifully. These poems are full of yearning and heartbreak and music and they are amazing at capturing moments like snapshots and evoking the places described within them.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning poetry. I had to stop and reread even from the first two lines of the first poem in this chapbook. Really evokes the spirit of San Antonio in a breathtaking way.

[Crystal Odelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waves of nostalgia and music, a sonorous longing, a velvet dream.

[Meaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal read by a stunning writer. Can't wait to see what comes next for Claudia Deflina Cardona!

[Mike Hilbig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked a copy of this up at AWP. Read it on the flight home. Solid poetry. Really reminded me of my father’s hometown, San Antonio, which several of the poems are about. I like how easy to read this collection is even as the themes are big and the metaphors are deep. Looking forward to reading more from this poet!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claudia Defina Cardona is a blinding talent. These poems of hers made me feel wistful and nostalgic to a city that holds very mixed feelings for me. I spent the first 23 years of my life in San Antonio and she can paint a picture, that brought me right back to those times. Her words are sumptuous with meaning and heavy with history. I look forward to seeing more from her.

[Natalia Mujadzic · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favorite poetry collection. Hands down. Claudia’s words will live inside me for a while.

[Meg Ready · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely entrance into a dream, a longing, a new solar system mapped by Cardona's deft eye.

[Adrix Tankersley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of poems celebrating a city and a culture so rarely mentioned in pop culture.

[Norman Styers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good chapbook.

[Luke Dylan Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weaponized nostalgia (in a good way).

[Nicole Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems were nice and had some lovely metaphors. I enjoyed this :)

[MizLaT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Cardona's poetry is a visual candy store for readers. In "My Heart is a Tourist Trap" she writes, "I want to believe the chambers/of my heart look like Mi Tierra./A thousand rows of golden papel picado/intertwined with a million tiny lights." Her poems illustrate and transcend the experiences of "brown girls" growing up in South Texas. She exhibits humor, frustrations, resilience and a fondness for living that is relatable, invigorating, and nostalgic. I highly recommend this tiny chapbook of poetry!