Nik Winnyk

The angel of history Nik Winnyk

As the angel of history laments in this marvelous collection, "Helpless to intervene . . . I can't fix them," readers too lament, as they undoubtedly become enamored with the poor and unfortunate characters she so lovingly portrays. Of course, this is every caregiver and hospice worker's misery, and Jess Fraga, a caregiver herself, knows well the misery of which she speaks. Every poem feels wrenched from the solar plexus. Like the angel of history fated to watch, she writes tenderly, and with compassion, about the unfortunate souls cut loose in the world, unmoored from family support and who suffer in life: the homeless, the depressed, the mentally challenged, the abused children, the aged, the fatally ill. At a time when societies across the globe are paying tribute to the world's courageous and dedicated caregivers, Jess Fraga's poems pay tribute as well-through the character of Quaphsiel, the angel who watches-who wants so to ease the pain and suffering of the less fortunate, but who can do nothing but watch and comfort those they've grown attached to, die slowly, painfully, and, worst of all, forgettably. - Mario Rene Padilla