Symmetric of Bone
‘These poems are elemental, crackling with heat, alive and finely wrought. Searching for moments of quiet intimacy against the sounds and textures of the city, these poems hold the contradictions of our bodies and our desires: hard and soft, liquid and abrasive.’ - Nina Mingya Powles
Inspired by the work of acclaimed jewellery designer Elsa Peretti, Symmetric of Bone is a lyrical and personal response to art and glamour.
Here, Troy Cabida borrows strength and energy from Peretti's jewellery as he tackles the homophobia, racism, and heartbreak that comes with contemporary urban life.
Symmetric of Bone is the PBS Pamphlet Choice for Spring 2025.
fourteen poems, 2024
War Dove
‘This debut is a battle cry for our past and future selves, a serenade finding pleasure in the things that fight back.’ R. A. Villanueva
‘There are lines that make you pause and think, and lines that shatter with the brilliance of quartz.’ Romalyn Ante
War Dove is a story of profound growth, of growing into oneself, of knowing tenderness, not as a skin to be sloughed on the way to maturity but a central muscle beating vital strength into the body. Cabida’s poetry refracts mental and emotional wellbeing through a kaleidoscope of cultural identities. This dove learns to soar and sway, heal and harden like ‘honey / crystallised and unflinching’.
Bad Betty Press, 2020.