“our present tense / was not too late”: Review of Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
Publisher: Penguin Press, 2022.
Review by: Margaret Huntley
Time is a Mother, Ocean Vuong’s latest poetry collection, is a timely piece of writing in more ways than one. The work grapples with the immediacy of our ever-fleeting lives, reflecting on his mother’s death, while stubbornly refusing to submit entirely to grief. Vuong’s earlier poetry collections as well as his debut novel: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, earned acclaim for their intimate depictions of raw emotion. Vuong’s newest work is no exception. Time is a Mother is rich with enjambments, metaphors, and allusions that persistently draw its readers into the chaotic cacophony of human experience that is the present moment.
Too often we encounter writing on the subject of loss to be stagnant, giving the tragedy complete autonomy over our emotions. But Vuong resists this cliché by sprinkling light and hope in amongst the grief. For instance, in the poem “Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker,” Vuong’s mother’s lost battle with cancer is told with a stark detachment in tone, painting the loss as devastatingly jarring. Instead of the book staying in that space of sadness, however, subsequent poems such as “Reasons for Staying” spark optimism by focalizing the little things that make each day beautiful.
But make no mistake, Vuong does not sugarcoat the very real experience of grief. A melancholy ache is still present even in the moments of hope. That ache is not ignored but is embraced much in the same way that a woven carpet combines different threads to make a masterpiece. The dark strands combine with light ones, and in order to truly admire the carpet’s beauty, one has to stand back and take it all in at once.
When experiencing losses in my own life, many friends and family told me that the grief would come in waves, and they were right. One minute I’ll feel just fine, and the next I’ll be swept up in isolated sorrow. Time is a Mother works in much the same way. Vuong expertly navigates the fluctuation of human emotion in his writing. Some poems are unapologetically hopeful, others are angry, others are pessimistic, and more all at once. Each piece bleeds into the next, pulling its readers along, sometimes eagerly, and sometimes reluctantly.
Another parallel to our lives is that this poetry collection is not long. In only 100 short pages, Vuong weaves together an artful story of loss and hope, pain and joy, desperation and confidence. Before I even had a chance to realize what was happening, it was over.
And is that not how our life goes? Everything happens and it happens so quickly. Then, it’s over and we wonder where all the time went. Though this reality is not a sad thing. For the inevitability of our death is what makes our lives worth living in the first place. And luckily for us, “our present tense / was not too late.”