Hedy Habra considers the choices and alternatives of life
“Or” is a curious, and unexpected, word to begin a title of a poetry collection. It’s even more unexpected to begin each of the 67 poems in that collection with the word “Or.” Or maybe it isn’t.
Curious and unexpected or not, that’s what poet, author, and essayist Hedy Habra does in Or Did You Ever See the Other Side?, her most recent collection of poetry. What happens is that each title suggests it’s an alternative to the original — an alternative title, an alternative theme or idea, or a different approach, description, or telling. As I began to guess an “original” title for each one I read, a rather fun exercise in and of itself, I began to understand what she’s doing here.
The diversity of Habra’s subjects underscores the multitude of the choices we have in life and the choices we make every day. Among many other subjects, she includes therapy with an analyst, love, resilience, all the keys you manage to collect, aging, removing your makeup at night (not a decision I have to make, thankfully), crushed hopes, volunteering, drinking Turkish coffee, hoarding, hot flashes, narcissism, burning bridges in relationships, and knitting.
The repeated use of the conjunction definitely makes you conscious of life’s ambiguities, the choices we make, and the alternatives we do and don’t explore. “Or” can also suggest a sudden decision to seize the opportunity to thwart authority and expected routine.
Or Who Would Have Expected Us to Leave That Way?
We decided to skip the afternoon bus ride
and sneak out through the convent’s main gate
guarded by the twin Sisters.
As soon as the hunchback nun turned around
to answer her stuttering twin’s call from inside
the parlor, we jumped in unison
out the first floor’s half-opened window.
We barely caught our breath till we reached
the town square.
We knew we couldn’t remain unnoticed for long
in our gray uniform. At the sight of the juggler,
we stood, mesmerized.
His hands handled fiery balls in elliptical
trajectories bringing forth the movement
of stars and constellations.
The same energy flowed through our body
as we held hands tightly as though a single
cape enveloped us.
My “original” suggested title for this poem is “Escaping in Plain Sight.” Or “How to Have Fun While Risking Retribution from Nuns.”
You see the kind of fun you can have with this, but few of Habra’s poems suggest fun and humor. Pain and loss is here as well, just as life is filled with pain, loss, humor, joy, dejection, fear, and love. And it’s the choices we make, the alternatives we take, that define the experiences and outcomes of our lives.
Hedy Habra
Habra has published three other poetry collections: Tea in Heliopolis, Under Brushstrokes, and The Taste of the Earth. She’s also published a collection of short stories, Flying Carpets, and a book of literary criticism on the work of Peruvian writer and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. In addition to a B.S. degree in Pharmacy, she’s also earned M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in English and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Spanish literature. She’s received numerous awards and recognitions for her work, and she’s published multilingually in a wide array of literary journals and anthologies.
Or Did You Ever See the Other Side? will place you in a deeply thoughtful mood. It will make you consider your own life, what might have happened if you’d stuck with pre-med instead of switching to journalism, for example, or if you had skipped the blind date who would eventually become your spouse. Those alternatives and choices define who we are, and Habra shows us just what a plentitude of choices we face every day.
Photo by Mark, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Glynn Young.
How to Read a Poem uses images like the mouse, the hive, the switch (from the Billy Collins poem)—to guide readers into new ways of understanding poems. Anthology included.
“I require all our incoming poetry students—in the MFA I direct—to buy and read this book.”
—Jeanetta Calhoun Mish
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L.L. Barkat says
I love the way you talked about this collection, Glynn. And Hedy expressed to me that she thought it was so wonderfully perceptive. 🙂 I agree!