“Mesandel Virtusio Arguelles is the kind of poet who investigates the public speech (language of movie titles, popular political memoirs, etc.) to find a strange lyricism. This excavation of public language offers a sudden tonality that’s both sharp and delicate, an example of how metaphysics is hiding in plain sight, everywhere.” —Ilya Kaminsky, Poetry Book Society citation for Three Books (2020) *** Deeply existential, each poem is a finely worked meditation of what it means to exist and what it means to fully face the at-times bleakness of our existence.” —After the Pause review of Walang Halong Biro (2018) *** “Hindi dumadating sa mambabasa [ang mga tula ni Arguelles] bilang isang tapos o yaring produkto—na kailangan na lamang unawain batay sa mga nakasanayang paraan o lente nf pagbabasa. Dumadating ang tulang ito, ang mga tula ni Arguelles, sa mambabasa bilang isang amorposong anyo/pigura—nilalantad sa mambabasa ang mga pinagdaanan, pinagdaraanan, at pagdaraanang proseso nito sa lahat ng posibleng sandali ng pagbasa, pagbaklas, pagbistay, pagwasak, at muling pagbuo nito.” —from the Introduction by Amado G. Mendoza III