Sushant Thapa
“I wonder if dreams can change the world / Or lay heavy on the eyelashes.”
The laying of the dreams on the eyelashes can be apathetic, but on the other hand dreams have potentiality to change the world. The poetic landscape which the poet Wani Nazir from Kashmir, India contributes from his side to the world is a play with the emotive aspect of words. There is closeness of his land Kashmir when the screeching words mark themselves on the pages of this anthology The Chill in the Bones. Readers get to touch his words rich in imageries. The words proclaim the musicality of low ebb and flow of life when the poet writes about “a long string of lament.” Pain has a new name in this anthology and it serves a purpose of creativity. The pathos has been rendered meticulously and every word sends chill down the readers’ spine.
The celestial bodies mingle into memories in this collection. This collection has good use of vocabularies, the words used convey literary as well as technical and informal meanings. I enjoyed getting enriched with new vocabularies while reading the book. For the poet, “star” is a transformation. Scars get transformed to stars and all grains of flesh turns to become a star. This drawing of words from the firmament does poetic justice and introduces a whole new literary sky to the readers.
The Ghazals in this collection are also viewed from literary lens. Ghazals enhance the literary quality with their Qaafiyaa (rhymes) and high tensions between the lines. There are variations in the style of the Ghazals composed by Nazir. Pain is evident and it rests in shrouds. It is a good choice to use Ghazal to represent pain and agony. Jhelum river is also evoked and it seems history flows anew with it.
I rearrange the blood drops
and you (mis)take it for a poem. (Weaving a poem)
I quote the above lines from a poem in this collection. The lines speak how enduring and demanding poetry is with respect to the situation in Kashmir. The book takes a metaphorical flight yet we do not lose the difficult situations on the ground. The above line defines the territory and scope of poetry itself. It is self-critical, collective and reflective.
There is also a poem titled “Kashmir” in this collection. Stooping of trees signify shame in the poem. The poet draws his poetry from nature. The ambiguity and uncertainty rest in between the lines—yet the verses speak and script their arrival. This is what remains forever. The poet does not want to hide
his grief.
I am Kashmir –
an Eden whose Adam
has been long exiled
to uncertainty. (Kashmir)
Memory repeats itself when ancestors are remembered in the poems. History, skin and memory form a perfect bonding to be part of the writing. The writing style is not fragmented like some other poets. We are acquainted with fresh imageries although grief and loss are painted throughout the poems.
There is an acrostic poem on Autumn in this collection. The acrostic poem is too natural and it involves a surrounding where it nurtures and describes the fall of the autumn. There is a personal touch in this poem and the second line has some alliteration with it.
The simile of tattered kite in one of the poems perfectly picture what the poet wants us to see. The ancestors are frequently remembered. This longing for the past is moving. The attachment and celebrating the ancestral time-flow make the poems in this collection livelier. It is like the poet is creating a family and a new home. This isn’t going back but is a forward propel of time. The poems are not creating gap with the past.
In the poem titled “Cosmos” a journey from Chaos to Cosmos is thrilling. Beauty still beacons light in the poems. This journey from Chaos to Cosmos is vast and wide. The poet engulfs us with his wide-awake momentum which is poetry of grace and charm.
Together
we are a clan of eyes
lingering for an earthly miracle
that needs no human meditation. (Loss)
The above-mentioned lines are propelling and sublime that mixes with the adversity of life. The surpassing element that needs no human meditation brings us a nascent hope. Our loss is measured with these elements in the poem. We share same clan of eyes where sights are exchanged, this can bring us closer to our shared land in the poem.
In the poem “Quandary” the poet talks about five alleys. This is the use of perception and a faint hope.
In the poem “Guns and Poems” we have hope to carve light out of darkness. The poet is carving myriad of functions for us to see and observe through his vantage point.
Poem is a corpse of my bosom
Paper- a graveyard
and you carve light out
of its darkness. (Guns and Poems)
“Story without a Narrative” is also a compelling poem. It questions few important aspects of survival and existence.
The metaphors of memory being a sword that either hisses at your ear only to frighten you/ or gashes into flesh to slice you into pieces.
Memory is a second heart in your chest/beating the drum of past.
These lines from the poem titled “Memory” speak about the remaining inside of the mental map of the surviving mind.
We have a definition of poetry in this new landscape of pain which the poet has weaved or found. Poem is an orphan/ whose parents die of ecstasy/ as soon as it is born.
The poet raises important question in one of the Ghazals when he says: What differs a prayer from a curse?! A twist of tongue.
I believe this to be a question that involves humanity and its choices. The choice to speak good in bad times is a necessity.
The poet says “sorrow is myopic” in Ghazal 9. The short-sighted sorrow subdues the anger for sure. The weight of this line reveals the complex web and showcases the diversity in Nazir’s poetry.
The poet also says: “Never write poems about poetry” in Ghazal 9. He is perhaps trying to say that he bids poetry adieu and moves to touch us with Ghazals. The poet further goes to question what poetry is. He questions: Is poetry a religion? and goes on to answer that: It is breath that religion breathes. The poet opens us this new value and definition of poetry which relates its idea to the religion and its belief.
The poet believes that his metaphors are common and anyone can create it. This is the side of shared humanity which the poet is casting.
Lastly, I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the 80 verses in this collection The Chill in the Bones. I treasure the happiness to read this book as a reader. I suggest readers to go through this wonderful collection. I wish all the best to the poet Wani Nazir for his creative endeavors.
[Poet Wani Nazir is a Kashmir University Gold medalist (2002) in English Literature, from Pulwama J&K India. He is an alumnus of the University of Kashmir, Srinagar. He is the author of a poetic collection, “and the silence whispered”. Presently working as Lecturer in the Department of Education, J&K, he has been writing both prose and poetry in English, Urdu and in his mother tongue Kashmiri. He is a voracious and wild reader and a reviewer. He contributes his brain-children-his poetry and prose in Kashur Qalam, The Significant League, Muse India e-Journal, Setu-a bilingual e journal published from Pittsburgh, USA, Langlit & Literary Herald – both UGC approved journal, the Caffe Dissensus and Learning and Creativity – a Silhouette Magazine, the Dialogue Times – a journal published from London, and has been receiving laurels for his beautiful writings.]
[Reviewer Sushant Thapa is a Nepalese poet and holds a Master’s degree in English literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.]