Alex P
When people talk about immigration, they tend to focus on the details — papers, moving, and finding work in a foreign country. But there's the Emotional Cost of Immigration, also, that can creep up and change the entire trajectory of an immigrant's life.
In Echoes of the Tides, Da Silva sheds light on The Emotional Cost of Immigration No One Talks About. In her poems, she paints us a picture of the small things that comprise this cost: the bewilderment when you don't catch a joke, the anxiety of losing your mother language, and the silent heartache of missing places and people that used to make you. Her book is a reminder that the psychological cost of immigration can be deeper than we might think.
What Really Happens When You Leave Home
Others view living overseas as a thrilling new adventure. And it can be. But there is also an emotional burden of moving abroad that never truly disappears. Transplanting your life means you take with you not only family and friends but also belonging. It's like digging up a tree by the roots — you get to plant it in new soil, but you always have the scars.
In Echoes of the Tides, Da Silva paints this picture vividly. She writes about life in her home country and what it’s like to build a life in the United States. These poems capture the tug-of-war between two identities, the old and the new. You’re not fully from here, but you’re not fully from there anymore either. That limbo is one of the Emotional Cost of Immigration — an unnamed sorrow that's difficult to identify but simple to experience.
Small Moments That Add Up
One of the rawest parts of Da Silva’s work is how she talks about social awkwardness. Many immigrants know this feeling all too well — mispronouncing a word, not getting the joke, or worrying you’ll say something embarrassing. These tiny moments can chip away at your confidence, adding to immigration stress factors that build up over time. Imagine going to a party where you speak the language but lack the idioms. Or trying to be friends with people but dreading that your accent makes you "different." It's a silent solitude that's difficult to describe, but one that influences immigrants' self-perception on a daily basis. It's one of the ways that the Emotional Cost of Immigration is so invisible — because it's hidden in plain sight, camouflaged in moments of daily life.
The Burden of Misinterpreted Cultures
Da Silva also writes eloquently about cultural misconceptions. For most immigrants, describing who they are becomes a daily habit. Why they eat some foods, why they practice certain traditions, or why they change languages in the middle of a sentence — these things tend to be misinterpreted. It's more than simply a misunderstanding; it contributes to the psychological impact of migration, so that people feel as if they must continually explain their identity.
Her decision to write in Cabo Verdean Creole and English is deliberate. It's not words alone; it's about paying respect to the past while looking ahead into the future. It's a bridge in this hybrid language, one that also can serve as a reminder that you always live in two worlds simultaneously. It's this doubleness that makes the Emotional Cost of Immigration so burdensome and at the same time so difficult to put into words. For a closer examination of how Da Silva's poetry reflects immigrant life, For a closer look at how Da Silva’s poetry mirrors immigrant life, read this related blog post.
It’s Not Just the Journey — It’s the Aftermath
There’s a saying that when you migrate, you pay with memories. What people often don’t see is that every small thing can bring waves of homesickness. A familiar smell. A song from back home. The taste of food that just doesn’t taste the same in a different country. These moments are all part of the Emotional Cost of Immigration, too.
It’s easy to underestimate how long this feeling lasts. For some, it fades with time. For others, it sits there like a quiet ache that never fully goes away. Da Silva’s Echoes of the Tides is full of poems that speak to this — a reminder that being brave enough to start over doesn’t mean you stop longing for what was left behind.
Aksonsat Uanthoeng
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