The Shape of Absence

The snake writhes

its fluent Arabic script
in the sand saying wait
saying ssstay awhile.
The new moon is not
yet risen, the spring water
cupped in your hands
is swimming with God,
the field weaving its
shimmering coat of grass
the wind rippling
and tumbling breathless
as a sweet-drenched child.
Wait till the hour of alchemy
arrives, till the troubled dust
settles down, till the ship carrying
a cargo of your past and future
sails away, never to return.
The window catches the afterimage
of dying stars. Soon the moon,
a pale thin slice, wafts into view
and begin its silent vigil.
In the dark you slowly start
changing into something
you’ve always dreamed
of becoming, into the shape
of absence which is air,
less than shapeless air.
Stripped of your mortal
shackles joys sorrows love,
even love, you grow lighter,
a fluff of feather, ephemeral.
First your feet, then your hands
and arms and face become
ghostly, your mouth sings
the worldless song of emptiness,
your translucent skin
peels off like an old map,
country by country,
till you become nothingness
incarnate, bodiless energy
glowing in the dark
passing into absence
the dear deathless absence
the sweet everlasting absence.
Eng 104: 21st Century Literature

Group 6
The Shape of Absence
By Jaime An Lim

MEMBERS:

Abao, Angelie Nicole

Babanto, Germaine Mae
Balbon, Jorge Jesus
Dalupere, Princess Marie
Lazaro, Simone Alessandra
Salcedo, Steve Kurt

12- Casati
About the Author
Jaime An Lim was born on January 7, 1946 in Cagayan de Oro City. He
received his Bachelor of Arts in English degree as Cum Laude from Mindanao State
University in 1968. His literary works, which comprise mostly of poems, novels,
essays, and short fiction, are commonly known to narrate and represent Filipino life
and culture.
Jaime An Lim had a colorful career in literary arts. Four years after he
graduated from college, he immediately became a writing fellow at the Silliman
National Writers Workshop and then in the UP Writers Workshop a year later.
His renowned masterpiece and most famous work, the "Axiolotl Colony", was
awarded first-place in the Palanca awards in 1993. Lim’s poem, The Small Bright
Things, was awarded second prize for Poetry Written for Children during the 66th
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature at the Cultural Center of the
Philippines (CCP) in Manila. Some of his awards are his short story "The Liberation
of Mrs. Fidele Magsilang" for fiction in English in 1973, his essay collection "The
Changing of the Guard" in 1989, and his poem "Yasmin" in 1990. Aside from these
he was also given awards in international literary workshops and contests. For his
outstanding achievement in fiction and poetry, he was awarded the 2000 Gawad
Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas.
At 70, Lim retired as a professor of English from the Mindanao State
University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) where he organized the Mindanao
Creative Writers Group, Inc., and founded the Iligan National Writers Workshop.
Lim is currently the Dean of the Institute of Arts and Sciences of Far Eastern
University in Manila.

Persona and Point-of-View

The point of view of the poem “Shape of Absence” belongs to the Omniscient
Narrator since the person narrating the said literary work is not the character of the
story but knows everything about it. The persona tells us about life and death. At the
very beginning, the character is presented as a person who is full of positivity and
energy, everything about the persona's life shines so bright and she's filled with life.
After the hour of alchemy, the character undergoes the process of life which leads to
death. Eventually, the persona slowly accepts the said situation and hoped for the
best.
Setting
Jaime An Lim’s “The Shape of Absence” has a backdrop type of setting which
can be observed as of how the poem does not explicitly mention any specific areas
or landmarks in its text, giving a vague and general description of the entire setting.
The lines of the poem also do not anchor a specific era in human history making it
convey a universal and timeless tale for the poem. Death is a timeless, universal and
mysterious abstract, giving the poem a backdrop setting further emphasizes the
entire theme of the poem.

Plot
The poem talks about the transition from life to death that is merely the
absence of one’s physical being. More importantly, it is the memories and the
experiences of the persona that takes the shape of the absence of the physical
aspect. It is what remains in this material world for those people whom he/she has
left behind.
The poem starts with a new beginning, a new life wherein the persona is full
of energy, so bright, alive and innocent in comparison to a sweat-drenched child.
Then it shifts to the hour of alchemy that changes everything. From here, the
persona transforms into someone, perhaps because of an experience that led to the
acceptance of this sudden change. Soon thereafter, the persona starts to lose a grip
of his/her dreams, hopes and aspirations as represented by the dying stars. It seems
that the persona wants to be freed from all the burdens, joys and sufferings even
love, as mentioned in the poem. However, all of these are accepted by the persona
and he/she slowly start becoming someone or something he/she always dreamed
about which is air. Similar with air, the persona begins to drift away losing every part
of the body one by one until it becomes nothing, but we know that it is there. Still, its
presence can be felt.
It is a bitter-sweet ending for the persona as he/she completely becomes an
incarnate bodiless energy, both present and absent at the same time, leaving what
seems to be the shape of absence— memories.
Insights
“The Shape of Absence” is a poem that contains various forms of imagery,
symbolisms and metaphors which makes it an exemplary literary piece.
“The snake writhes its fluent Arabic script in the sand saying wait saying wait
saying ssstay awhile.” In the Arabic script, it is commonly written with a lot of curves
specifically s-shaped lines. Upon researching words that are relevant in the poem, it
was discovered that the word death in Arabic script is similar to the structure of the
snake. Hence, the snake symbolizing the possible occurrence of death all throughout
the poem.
“The new moon is not yet risen, the spring water cupped in your hands is
swimming with God, the field weaving its shimmering coat of grass, the wind rippling
and tumbling breathless as a sweat-drenched child.” The new moon symbolizes a
new beginning and “...the spring water cupped in your hands is swimming with
God…” may refer to a child still in the womb of the mother, new, pure and
untouched. Moreover, the line “…tumbling…as a sweat-drenched child…” may refer
to a child that is full of life. A child that does not worry about the realities of life and
focuses only on the joy of being a child and the excitement of life.
“Wait till the hour of alchemy arrives, till the troubled dust settles down, till the
ship carrying a cargo of your past and future sails away, never to return.” Alchemy
means a process that transforms something in a mysterious way. The past may be
something that helped the persona become who the persona is but as soon as this
change occur, this past may just be forgotten. Life is full of making decisions and
often future-planning, not realizing if that future is something that can be
experienced. Hence, this line expresses how in life, the past and future is something
that can just be forgotten.
“The window catches the afterimage of dying stars. Soon the moon, a pale
thin slice, wafts into view and begin its silent vigil.” Scientifically, dying stars would
mean stars exploding to seed the universe a new generation of stars to grow. Hence,
in the poem, dying stars would mean the transition of the persona from life to death.
The presence of the moon symbolizes the end of the day which in the poem could
refer that the persona is near to the end, to death.
“Stripped of your mortal shackles joys sorrows love, even love, you grow
lighter, a fluff of feather, ephemeral.” This line refers to the emotions the persona
may have felt. Ephemeral means lasting for a very short time; even though it may
have lasted for a short while, the persona was able to feel emotions such as
happiness, sadness and love.
“Your translucent skin, peels off like an old map, country by country, till you
become nothingness, incarnate, bodiless energy.” Similar to the first few lines of the
poem, these lines can be symbolized by a snake. A snake peels of its skin when it
sheds, and anywhere in the forest, its remnants remain. Just like the persona, these
sheds are similar to the memories made by the persona in the past. Even if the
persona leaves the physical state of being, the persona is not totally absent hence
giving the shape of absence, which are the memories left behind that people will
remember.

Meaning
The overall meaning of the poem revolves around the idea of death as
something not to be feared of but only a passing phase of our lives; a passing into
absence of the physical being of a person in this world. Lines in the poem indicate
emphasis to this natural aspect of life. From new beginnings where everything
started, to the cycle of being a child growing up only to be transformed by the test of
times and finally possessing the acceptance of the inevitability. We then embrace
that acceptance no matter how painful it is because deep inside our hearts, we also
wanted the freedom that death can give. Similar to the snake peeling off its skin, we
turned into someone we wanted to become. In the end, we all follow a path and all of
our paths will cross at the same point, the point of death.

Insights (Overall Meaning)

Overall, the poem talks about the process of life from being an unborn child, a
breathless kid, a grown up that experiences a number of struggles and death. To be
able to live a life worth living, we must acknowledge the possibility of death. People
may fear it but one must realize that none of us know when our time will be over
hence, one must live a life that one will never regret. One must live their lives to the
fullest and do things they wish to do before a factor stops this possibility. With this,
one may be able to live a life with meaning hence will be able to accept that death is
something that is natural.
Theme
Death is inevitable, for it is a certain ultimate possibility in life that no one can
ever avoid. Therefore, one should learn not to fear it, but instead accept it happening
anytime in their life. One can even think of death as a way of freeing oneself from the
world, a phase of transfiguration from a temporary world to an unknown but
permanent world. Death is also a process of transformation wherein the soul leaves
the material world into the unseen immaterial, and the physical being is abandoned
which will eventually disintegrate unto the earth. But the legacy the person left
behind will have a lasting impact among those who are part of his/her life, forming a
shape of their absence in their former world.