The poet thrives on contemplation, and through history observation has always been the creator’s tool. Moments of spark can birth a poem or steer a novel, yet life constantly surprises. It has often been said that the local scene can illuminate the universal; many examples prove this point. The emotion of a factory worker in a provincial town can mirror the feeling of a worker in New York. Emotions cross borders—joys and sorrows hold no nationality, race, or gender. Emotion binds us all, which is why poetry stands as humanity’s most valuable asset.
theory of everything
Rosa Mª Marcillas Piquer’s In Another Light, published by Olé Libros, stands as a deeply contemplative example of the author’s work. The collection opens with a poem titled Like You and I: “In these lines / when you read me / you will find your eyes / to illuminate the shadows / the skin / shed in loneliness / the look that seeks the gray silence.” This piece, acting as a doorway to the book, captures contemplation’s trace. Rosa draws on memory throughout the work, recalling experiences as if she were alive at the moment she reveals them.
There is a melancholic quality to her poetry, the sort seen in people who tread carefully through life. Another instance is the poem Landscapes: “A different landscape lives on each skin: / a city, / a beach, an oasis / rainy days / in the abysses of time. / The clocks make their way / cover the shoulders with leaves, / and when the storms / overflow the river beds / cover our steps with mud, / we want to start again. There is elegance in Rosa’s verses. Her poems not only excite, they leave a sense of privilege, as if the form of her poetry is as important as its substance. The message is clear, but the manner of its delivery matters too. The poem Beyond Nothing exemplifies this: “What you dream builds you; / peeling off the embers of pain / reborn among the most scattered shadows, / giving you back your wings / you succumb to sadness. // In the dark hours of the afternoon / Preserved passions / The cold of absence / sheds a flood of light / on loneliness.”
In Another Light is organized into five sections: Only Your Voice, The Song Opens, Among the Shadows, Wounds on the Skin, and Where the Light Is Born. The book becomes a journey between light and shadow, with the writer guiding us through the chiaroscuro of every life. Moving through lights and shadows is natural; silences deserve attention, for, as with many great works, what is left unsaid often matters more than what is stated. Many authors use literature as a vehicle to expose these contrasts, and Rosa’s raw emotions reflect themselves like a mirror.
Rosa invites readers to witness her thoughts in order to universalize her feelings. Across literature and history, her poems resemble boats reaching a destination never fully planned. They reveal the author’s sincere nakedness, looking at the past with the devotion of someone who has lived. She closes the collection with verses that feel like an epiphany, a summation—the theory of everything: “But sometimes you walk away from the light, / you hide in the shadows and / you choose to continue walking blindly / into the dark crater of the night.”