'Nothing Prepares You' by Vivimarie Vanderpoorten
Graceful poems of life, death and memoirs
by Ranga Chandrarathne
The maiden anthology of poems by well-known literatus Vivimarie
Vanderpoorten which was recently launched
at SLFI on Valentine's Day is a repository of life-long experiences,
fond and melancholy memoirs as well as a satirical social outlook of a
sensitive lady.
With an easy flow of thoughts, Vivimarie portrays her world in a most
-down-to-earth yet, in an elegant manner; the poems such as 'In a
crowd', 'Explosion', 'Maps', ' Single Brown Female , 1998' and ' Choice'
, ' For Naomi' and ' Driving Home ' are some of the most evocative poems
with deep-meaning embedded in simple diction.
"As I close my eyes
my last thought is this:
from best friend
to lover
you have now turned
into
the only family I know. "
'Driving Home' is a poignant poem celebrating love. Perhaps, this
shows how sensitive the poet is and how she turned an insignificant
every day occurrence into a recitation on love and the love in its most
subtle form. Her lover, in this case, none other than her husband, is
metaphorically compared to the 'the only family I know'.
The poem 'Choice' is a satire on some Sri Lankan women and their
narrow-minded attitude towards life.
'No babies yet?
they ask, the women-slightly coy,
and if they are already
mums-
slightly superior.
No kids?
they ask, men-shocked
at a woman
defying the role that she's
defined by '
.....
Pardon me
I have another life
So you do your thing and I'll do mine
Let's not question or justify
our choices. "
Here Vivimarie questions the validity of the set-formula of life
which often is taken for granted in Sri Lankan society. For some Sri
Lankans, marriage, rearing children and gossiping constitute 'the
natural choice' and question others who do not tow the line.
The poem 'Visiting Giants' shows how little the world knows of Sri
Lanka and its people. All the generation of political leaders and
diplomats should be squarely blamed for the picture portrayed in the eye
of the world at large. Unfortunately, most of the foreigners identify
Sri Lanka as either a part of Africa or a part of India.
"Which part of Africa is that?
.......I didn't say
That it has a splendid past
But no future
That it's rich soil
Is drenched in blood
And that there's hopelessness
In the eyes
Of its children
When they asked me
"So what's it like"
I only said
"It's home"
Despite decades of civil unrest and war, its rich soil is drenched in
blood ', Vivimarie considers 'it home '. The poems are elegant in style,
evocative yet philosophical.
They contain the poet's experiences, memoirs (both happy and
melancholy) and she criticises orthodox views, misconceptions, racism
and cultural fundamentalism which enforces a set-formula for life,
behaviour, and regiments of "values and choices of life".
'Nothing prepares you' is a must read for everyone who is eager to
explore and learn the spirit of humanity and to share memoirs and
experience of a true patriot and a universal personality.
The deep and insightful philosophy thrashed out in this intellectual
property is the ideology of the cream of intelligentsia which perhaps
constitutes ten per cent of mankind.
***
Nothing prepared anyone for anything on Valentine's Day at the Sri
Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI). First there was a traffic gridlock
that refused to unlock Second there was a book launch by Vivimarie
VanderPoorten. Well, those who braved the traffic and survived to make
it to the SLFI and got to hear the gentle strains of poetry may have had
a soul stirring experience.
"Nothing
Prepares You" is Vivimarie's maiden collection of poetry published by
the newest star on Sri Lanka's publishing firmament, under the imprint
of Zeus Paperbacks.
The author, a lecturer in English Literature, Language and
Linguistics at one of Sri Lanka's national universities is no stranger
to Sri Lankan literature. Her work has been published in the Social
Scientists' Association periodical Pravada, (Now Polity), Channels, the
official mouth-piece of the English Writers" Cooperative and the online
refereed literary journal Postcolonial Text.
The publisher, CEO and Managing Director of Inscript (Pvt) Ltd, Shan
Rajaguru set the tone for the evening by introducing the audience to the
world of publishing. He explained the importance of a publisher-author
relationship as well as the necessity of whetting the book through an
expert panel of editors so as to draw out the essence of creativity.
Then began a series of poetry recitals which began with the author,
Vivimarie; She then invited Asgar Hussein, an upcoming poet who has just
released a volume of poetry titled "Termite Castle" and Sandra Fernando
the author of "Candle and Other poems" to read from their work.
If expectations were meant to be protected like Chinaware and rise to
the sky like a bird learning to fly, then Vivimarie's poetry lived up to
those expectations. "Explosion" a poem based on the Central Bank bomb
exploded a hitherto unexplored meaning to that warped episode of
history. The poem demonstrated how a bomb can render consumerism
meaningless and how consumerism can render a bomb meaningless.
The two poems titled "You're Welcome" and "Visiting Giants" received
loud applause for their ability to convey subtly, biting wit, poetic
dialogue and prose-like story-telling. The poems focused on cultural
misunderstanding and racial issues in a most original manner.
Ashok Ferry, the best selling author of "The Colpety people" and "The
good old Ceylonese Girl" read the title poem of Asgar's book "The
Termite Castle". Sandra Fernando read a poem from her book as well as a
poem in titled "I wrote a little poem" which she dedicated to Vivimarie
on the occasion of her launch of "Nothing Prepares You".
All in all the evening of poetry with its packed gathering was a
simple and effective event, which was unassuming to say the least. The
launch avoided the common pitfalls of such launches such as lengthy
speeches and lengthy readings.
In a touching gesture, the poet presented a copy of her new book to
Professor Ryhana Raheem, Director of the Postgraduate Institute of
English at the Open University of Sri Lanka, whom she referred to as "a
significant source of inspiration and someone who played an important
and special role in her life" |