Bitter Melon

In this debut poetry collection, Elvis Alves uses bitter melon as a metaphor for life's experiences. He does more than ruminate about the bitterness of life and seeks to locate the truth in the adage "life is what you make of it." He plays with the notion that modes of relating (i.e. to self, God, nature, other human beings) are at the core of what it means to take ownership of life.