Have you read Grace Chua’s Countdown ? Share your favorite poem from the collection in the comments below. For more reviews of Southeast Asian eco-literature, subscribe to our newsletter.
Positive Psychology Institute. (n.d.). The Importance of Social Connections. Retrieved from https://positivepsychologyinstitute.com/social-connections/
In the crowded landscape of contemporary poetry, few short pieces manage to balance the cosmic with the intimate as deftly as Grace Chua’s “Countdown.” At first glance, the poem appears to borrow the language of a rocket launch—a sequence of numbered seconds ticking toward a climactic event. But as Chua strips away the mission control jargon, we realize the launch is not outward into space, but inward into the fragile machinery of the human body.
In an era dominated by loud, CGI-laden disaster films and dystopian series filled with zombies and supervillains, environmental poetry often feels like the shy cousin at a rock concert. But every so often, a voice emerges that forces us to turn down the volume and listen to the ticking of a very different clock.
A Ticking Clock and a Fractured Bond: A Review of Countdown by Grace Chua
