Poetry for pleasure

Reviewed by R. S. Karunaratne

Sri Lanka is a country where poetry is read only in the classroom. I have never seen people reading poems in buses, trains or even libraries. After G.C.E. O/L, A/L and degree examinations nobody takes the trouble to read poetry written by local or foreign writers. While England is exporting poetry to other countries, we do not pay any heed to this important segment of literature. Against such a bleak background a few writers such as Radha Ranjani Jayawardene take the trouble to publish a collection of their poetry.

As Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren say in their pathbreaking book "Understanding Poetry", poetry is a "kind of saying." There are two reasons for the unpopularity of poetry among students and teachers. One is the "way of saying" and the other is the "nature of the said."

Unlike prose, poetry consists of rhyme rhythm, metaphor and allusions. For the uninitiated all this can be distracting. Secondly, poetry does not offer a readable story with suspense. It also does not contain any useful information. Then why should we read poetry?

If poetry had been a useless exercise in verbal pyrotechnics, it would not have lasted for so many centuries. History tells us that poetry existed in some form or the other even in shadowy prehistory. Then we have to conclude that poetry is not something useless or unnatural.

I had the privilege of reading some of the poems written by Radha Ranjani Jayawardene when she was a contributor to the Artscope published in the Daily News. I was impressed by her poems. I particularly liked the following poem entitled "Rains please do not go away":

"Where has the bright sun gone?

Why is the sky shrouded in grey?

Is it so deep, so grave in mourn?

No, it's clearly the imminent rain.

Ha! There fall silvery arrows,

Impinging sounds of drops pearly,

Down the earth, wild, yet smooth they flow,

Fanning life to earth, for tomorrow's greenery.

Rain is the spirit of robust farmers,

Rain is the essence of inevitable growth,

Of penurious people you are the saviour,

Since you ease out their hunger.

Monsoon rains are much awaited,

Hence your importance is promulgated,

If you look aside, and gush away rain,

How are we to exist, I never can guess.

Sun, rain, moon, earth, man and nature,

Are part and parcel of life and universe,

If every element of you drifts away,

Disaster will be the wolf on our doorstep."

We expect some kind of rhythm in poetry. However, rhythm is not something artificial. It is found in all life and human activity. The rhythm found in Radha's poetry is quite natural and appropriate. Let's have a look at another poem written rhythmically.

"Autumn Leaves"

Lovely autumn leaves,

Tossed here, tossed there,

I waited and waited

Listening to their crunchy sound

Where the dry leaves raised,

Rolling, rumbling and gushing,

Reminding that I'm waiting.

I heard the floating music,

The gay beat of the band,

Made my feet tap a tap,

Then autumn leaves rocked, mocked,

Watching how the leaves frolicked,

I felt the weight of their mourn,

And it was true, I was all alone.

Sniffing at the aroma in air,

By the dishes over there,

My mouth began to water,

The bell of greed rang inside,

But sensation lapsed to care,

Due to snappy 'Autumn Leaves,'

Crunchy sharp notes it weaves.

Doors banged, laughter echoed,

Vehicles hummed or rushed away,

Glory to heaven, you appeared finally,

Flushed, contented, bubbling with joy,

It was as if you floated not walked,

Your chauffeur, practically that's me,

Bade farewell to my pals - Autumn Leaves."

The value of the anthology would have been enhanced if the author had the book properly edited and proof read.

Mars minerals point to warmer and wetter past

by Victoria GILL

The mineral find suggests that liquid water once flooded the rocks The Red Planet harbours rocks rich in carbonate minerals, suggesting there was more water there in the past than previously thought, say scientists.

Nasa's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit detected the carbonate-rich rocks in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater.

This was in 2005, but Martian dust had partially blinded one of the rover's instruments, clouding the data.

The team described in Science journal how they calibrated the instrument to "remove the effects of the dust".

The discovery helps scientists understand the early climate history of Mars and whether there could have been life on the planet.

Research scientist Steve Ruff from Arizona State University in the US, took part in the study.

"Small amounts of carbonate minerals have been detected on Mars before," he explained. "[But this time] we're seeing a couple of large outcrops of rock poking through the soil of the Columbia Hills."

Living conditions?

Nasa scientist Richard Morris, from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, led the research. He said that the rocks, which are about 25% carbonate by weight, contain about 10 times more carbonate than had previously been detected in the planet's rocks.

"This is a significant jump," he told BBC News. "And the amount is compelling evidence that there was some kind of water there."

Dr. Morris explained that the mineral probably came from carbonate-rich water, which interacted with the rock.

This could also point to early Mars being warmer than previously thought.

"It looks like Mars had a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere, so there was some kind of greenhouse effect," said Dr Morris.

"The atmosphere now is very thin, - it could have blown into space or it could have interacted with water and is now present in the rocks."

The carbonate is also evidence that the water was chemically neutral, which would have made conditions "more permissive" for life on early Mars.

While none of this is direct evidence of life on Mars, Dr Morris says the study is "just the beginning" of the science that will be possible with this data.

Small mammals at risk as world warms

by Matthew Knight

Many small mammal populations may already be at tipping point, researchers say

The biodiversity of small mammals in North America may already be close to a "tipping point" causing impacts "up and down the food chain" according to a new study by U.S. scientists.

Examining fossils excavated from a cave in Northern California, biologists from Stanford University, California uncovered evidence that small mammal populations were severely depleted during the last episode of global warming around 12,000 years ago.

Many species, say researchers, have never recovered their populations leaving them vulnerable to future rises in temperature.

Deposits in Samwell Cave in the foothills of the southern Cascades mountain range revealed that populations of gophers and voles during the period (the end of the Pleistocene epoch) were on a par with those of deer mice.

But while the deer mice population thrived in the warming period and has become one of the most common small mammals in the U.S. today, gophers, voles and other small species' populations fell away permanently.

The decline in small mammal species during the period contributed to a 30 percent decline in biodiversity, according to the study.

Co-author and professor of biology at Stanford University, Elizabeth Hadly says deer mice are considered a "weedy" species and when they replace other small mammal species, the effects ripple through the ecosystem.

Lead author of the study, Jessica Blois says because they are so common, it's easy to take small mammals for granted.

But they play important ecosystem roles "in soil aeration and seed dispersal and as prey for larger animals."

Unlike some larger animals - mammoths, mastodons and dire wolves - small mammals never became extinct during the Pleistocene epoch.

But despite their resilience, Blois says small animal species face an uncertain future.

"Even though all of the species survived, small mammal communities as a whole lost a substantial amount of diversity, which may make them less resilient to future change," she said in a statement.

The research, which was recently published in the science journal, Nature, underlines the effects climate change could have on all types of biodiversity, not just the "eye-catching species."

"The temperature change over the next hundred years is expected to be greater than the temperature that most of the mammals that are on the landscape have yet witnessed as a species," Hadly said in a statement.

"The small-mammal community that we have is really resilient, but it is headed toward a perturbation that is bigger than anything it has seen in the last million years." she added.

The third edition of the U.N.'s Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) recently stated biodiversity loss is rising at an unprecedented rate and urged governments to take immediate action to avoid "catastrophic tipping points."

A recent U.N. meeting on biodiversity held in Nairobi, Kenya - which coincided with the publication of GBO-3 - has laid the foundations for action to be taken when the U.N. Convention on Biodiversity convene for its 10th conference in Nagoya, Japan in October, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),

Jane Smart, director of IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Group said in a statement: "There's been overwhelming support in Nairobi for 20 strong, ambitious but realistic targets for the next 10 years, designed to prevent the extinction crisis and restore Earth's ecosystems."

CNN

Why teenagers are unable to concentrate

by Amelia Hill

Parents who despair over their teenagers' lack of concentration in class, inability to sit still long enough to finish homework or plan ahead, should take solace.

Their children are not being lazy or careless - they are hapless victims of neurobiology.

New research has found that teenagers' brains continue developing far longer into adulthood than previously thought.

Adolescents may look like young adults but their brain structure resembles that of much younger children, according to the study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

"It is not always easy for adolescents to pay attention in class without letting their minds wander, or to ignore distractions from their younger sibling when trying to solve a maths problem," said Dr Iroise Dumontheil of University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, one of the authors of the research.

"But it's not the fault of teenagers that they can't concentrate and are easily distracted.

It's to do with the structure of their brains.

Adolescents simply don't have the same mental capacities as an adult." Using MRI scans, the brain activity of adolescents were monitored as they tried to solve a problem in their heads while ignoring environmental distractions.

The scans revealed an unexpected level of activity in the prefrontal cortex, a large region at the front of the brain involved in decision-making and multitasking. This indicated that the brain was working less effectively than that of an adult.

"We knew that the prefrontal cortex of young children functioned in this

chaotic way but we didn't realise it continued until the late 20s or early 30s," said Dr Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, who led the study.

"This means it continues to do a lot of needless work when making these sorts of decisions." Chaotic thought patterns are a result, she said, of teenagers' brains containing too much grey matter - the cell bodies and connections which carry messages within the brain. As we age, the amount of grey matter in our brains decreases.

Book launch

"Pattara Rassava"

"Divaina" editor Merrill Perera's latest book entitled "Pattara Rassava" will be launched at the National Library Services and Documentation Board auditorium, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7 on June 10 at 4 p.m.

The keynote address will be delivered by senior journalist Mohan Samaranayake.

Merrill Perera is the author of "Ayubovan Armour Veediya", "Divayine Visi Vasak" "Sebe Pattarakarayo" and "Penny Walalu".

"Pattara Rassava", especially written for newcomers to journalism, is a Dayawansa Jayakody publication.