Abandon

Lydia Forssander-Song is a sessional instructor in the English
Department at Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C.

Oana Avasilichioaei is the author of three poetry chapbooks. Her first
poetry collection vividly evokes personal, historical, political, and
mythical moments of her travels to her country of origin.

The book is divided into three sections. Part 1 (“Dragon”) is both
personal and political. Avasilichioaei’s speaker states, “I am your
oracle” and “Let me tell you about freedom.” The figure of the
dragon is clearly Nicolae Ceausescu, the Communist Romanian leader from
1965 to 1989.

Part 2 (“Abandoned Markets”) is the longest section in the
collection and contains most of the travel writing. Part of the conflict
in this section is that of the immigrant returning to her country of
origin. In “Market,” Avasilichioaei writes, “I have on my best
dress / and on my back, the weight / of the old world.” In “Dear
One,” the last poem in this section, she writes, “Shall I send this
letter home, that mythical place? / Blanket entire wheat fields with it?
/ To solid alleys I take / on bare feet, nothing / beneath my skirt /
but a wish to begin.”

In Part 3 (“From the Diaries of the Dead Daughter”), Avasilichioaei
adopts the voice of the illegitimate daughter of Stephen the Great and
explains in her notes that this character may be historical or mythical.
This section picks up the themes of abandonment and home addressed in
the previous section by dwelling on the daughter’s outcast state.

Overall, Abandon takes the reader on a journey that is well worth
embarking on.