If I were to describe Cecilia Vicuna’s poetry, I would describe it as indirect, deep, complex, humane and “hybrid” (Dr. Sherwood’s word).  In her poems, Vicuna mentions geographical places, narrates several stories, and presents spirituality in a distinct way “The first prayer ever recorded.. said .. ‘let me see your beauty’” (182). Vicuna is not merely performing sounds, words or poetry but also silence and nothingness. I listened to her recorded poem “Thread of the Voice” and I was amazed by her spontaneity and representation of the opposites, the abstract and concrete. I find some of the sounds she makes while performing annoying but I feel she means to be this way, to disturb our quietness, thoughtlessness and monotony and consequently elevate us from being recipients to participants in her poetic experience.

I like the way she easily moves between languages, differentiates between them and then reconnects them. Accordingly, I, as a reader, have become eager to know the meanings of the non-English phrases in order to better understand and fully live her experience. I read the poems before reading the introduction because I did not want to be under the influence of other people’s thoughts. For me, I felt from the beginning that she tends to historize language/s: “.. and then words as I perceive them.. they are time.. simply time.. and sound written.. and sound breathing” (the online transcript). Or may be she perceives language as a site for human’s history “we will be only voice.. Navigating” (141).