Another Word for Longing

Another Word for Longing: Saudade traces a speaker’s immersion in Brazil as both an outsider and an intimate witness, guided by what poet David Keplinger calls 'longing-the sense of loneliness incited by desire-in all of its disguises.' What begins as a travel narrative becomes something more interior and searching: a story of trying to belong in a place where the speaker is 'a mere passer-through,' even as she wrestles with its language and textures its daily life with vivid, sensory attention. As poet Richard Peabody puts it, the book reads as 'part travelogue, part love letter,' layered with discovery, language, and emotional risk. At its core, the collection follows a relationship shaped and sustained by longing-not only for place, but for the body and for continuity in the face of illness. The poems move through vulnerability and estrangement, echoing moments where the self feels fractured, as in the haunting admission, 'Some mornings... I wake without my body.' This sense of dislocation deepens the intimacy between the two central figures, whose bond is strengthened by what Keplinger describes as 'the lightning arc of true love that anchors and sustains.' Ultimately, this debut collection bends toward connection rather than resolution. Through small rituals and shared attention, longing becomes expansive rather than limiting. As poet Frank X Walker observes, these poems are 'intimate... snapshots' that bring the reader close, honoring culture, language, and love without 'asking why.' In this way, the collection transforms saudade into a sustaining force, an ache that widens into meaning, intimacy, and grace. 6