| Book: Poetic Jewels by Michael AshbyCritic: Dr Glenville AshbyPoets have always stirred the conscience, embedding themselves in struggles for social change. Their words are also celebratory finding solace and warmth in the nature’s resplendence. Like the Psalmist, they cry out from the depths of their soul, soothing the bruised heart and offering hope to the hopeless. It is this authenticity that has made many poetic gems timeless, transcending cultures and creeds.Book cover ofPoetic JewelsTo rank Trinidad-born Michael Ashby in the same vein as a Shelley or Wordsworth is arguably an overreach, but he comes daringly close. His Poetic Jewels journeys back to a life in all its rustic magnificence with whistling birds, brooks and streams and the fertility of green.And the beauty of the human body he lauds unabashedly. It is nature in its pristine form.Ashby’s verses are crisp with a pedestrian beat and almost symmetrical in tone and colour. Maybe its predictability can be faulted, but this does not detract from the overall weight of his message. There is a raw and appealing simplicity to Ashby’s oeuvre. He writes with elegant authenticity that proves to be a robust retort to any critic.Poetic Jewels beckons the reader to reflect on the fundamental gift of life, a gift that has been ravished by internecine wars and twisted teachings that promote social injustice. Alas, the existentialist’s philosophy of self-realisation, amid the most arduous of challenges is alien to today’s society. And Ashby responds in the only way he knows how.Whether it is “Who is a Friend,” “A Secret to Tell,” “The Stairway to Heaven,” or “Splendour,” Poetic Jewels flows effortlessly – in phases. From the homostrophic odes to ancestors and the glorification of nature; from the sensual hymnal tones of lost and found love to divine supplications, this poet is message unwavering.Shunning prosaic poetry, he is an apologetic classicist.In “She is Gone,” he writes: “How must I feel now that she is gone, trashed in the gutter, melted and worn; where craziness lies and even spent,Wholesale Jerseys, woe to this sadness there lies resent…”And in “the Pinnacle of Love,” the poet intones: “I am at the pinnacle of ecstasy, so aroused by this sensation of sublimity. How great thou art, I found my lady of black beauty…”While “Jewels” rings of genuine human emotions – love, acceptance and understanding – from an individual level, one cannot ignore its social implications. Ashby’s love grows outward, bursting with a cry of liberation that connects to those trapped and stymied by oppression.“I am what I feel, the surge of power it reveals. The essence of my tribulations that once were, now vibrates a joy I am happy to know,” he writes.We also see this catharsis in African Woman, a work of rebellious pride:“My name is not colonial but of significant importance. Anika by birth of ancestral acceptance…….Free at last, so free at last, Emancipation has made its way into our hearts. Come my African sisters, this is our day. Let us celebrate in our own special way. You may light a candle or beat a drum, but whatever you do, May it be done in honour of African Redemption….”And as a fitting corollary, Ashby hails Makandal Daaga in an eponymous poem:“We marched the length and breadth with this man, even to work in the sugar cane land. So now is the time for our children to heed of the struggles we had, so they can lead…”Has this poet left the sublime to swelter in the heat of politics? Not likely. “Daaga” is a poem replete with sensitivity, historical awareness and gratitude. In fact, it may very well encapsulate the humanistic underbelly of this compelling work.Feedback: [email protected]/Follow him on [email protected]Poetic Jewels by Michael Ashby, 2013ISBN: 976-8193-10-7Recommended(868) [email protected] |
