Seeking new vistas of expression

Title : Stitch your eyelids shut
Author : Vivimarie VanderPooten
Published by : Akna publisers

Vivi (this is how we affectionately call her) is exquisite in her genre, form, subject and diction. ‘Stitch your eye lids shut’ is a collection of evocative poetry, which seeks new vistas of expression. She brings a train of new imagery in a simple yet intricate language of the fragility of life, carbuncular ulcers of the of the present day society, mental twists, decaying morality and other miscellaneous themes.

Vivi’s poetry is her passion for truth illustrated with imagination and fancy, bringing in pleasure and exaltation. She leads us to be engrossed in joyful experience of delight, wisdom and reality. Her poetry embodies her passion for truth by plunging us into a deep contemplation of her imagination contained in her words.

The poem ‘Cadaver’ best elucidates her intuition.

They say that holding into the past

is like tying a corpse

to your back and taking it along

with you

wherever you go,

The stench horrible,

people around you hold their noses

And avoid you like

the proverbial plague

……………………………..

I should untie you

from the back of my heart

dig a hole in the dark deep

night of my past

and bury you,

kisses and all.

This cadaverous metaphor with rather obnoxious phrases such as ‘a corpse’, ‘the stench horrible’ and the proverbial plague’ convincingly portray how excruciatingly painful memories tend to ruin your life. This is in a way is one’s strenuous endeavours to get rid of what once was pleasurable.

Her imaginative passions for truth are also revealed in ‘Gravity’ again showing her capability of using very powerful imagery.

Your arbitrary love

was the moon

the child in me

was crying for

Or maybe it was just

a yellow balloon

light and full of air

And slipped away

on a tenuous string.

It is burning passion that attracts us to fall in love and it is also the intellectual passion that enlightens us on how puerile we have been till the unexpected happens. What strikes me here is VIvi’s conception of how poetic imagination surpasses what is generally accepted in science, and imbibes insight in us to see the reality of the world.

We know a poet is far from dealing only with subtle truth. Vivi with her power of writing with exuberance shows to us how beauty and truth become identical in her poetry.

Even the remotest imagination of a poet is found to have connection with matter of fact. There is biting sarcasm and trenchant criticism of the modern day society in her poetry. Underneath the beauty of her poetry is an incisive critique of social values.

Capture the smile on my face

Tell me how to pout

and how to show more cleavage

As I lean against the car

I’m laughing at you.

that’s what your camera cant see

Cinderella’s no longer

waiting for her prince

she works in a factory.

One remarkable feature of her poetry is to find new dimensions of what one can see as conventional themes. Here, the pathetic plight of the factory girl is painted not merely against the backdrop of exploitation of women’s labour, but in a context of emerging social value system.

Explicitly or implicitly, Vivi merges a tinge of sexuality, again for the purpose of depicting the erosion of morality in the society. The words .pout’ and ‘cleavage’ ironically speak of the new system of values heartily embraced by one section of the youth. And what is extraordinary is the novelty and originality of her imagery.

Even for summer

and how slowly the

bead of sweat travelled

how slowly down the valley

of my breasts.

Though, a touch of liberal feminism at times creeps into her poetry as is found in

She gets up at dawn

lights the hearth

does the chorus

while her husband snores,

She seems to delve deep into the blatant contradictions of Sri Lankan culture where she goes beyond feminism to explore the deep fathoms of how the cultural milieu of the society influences the life of a typical or modern woman.

She wakes the kids

cooks the lunch

feeds the baby

dresses for work

while her

other-in-law

bathes at the well

dresses in white

offers flowers

lights joss sticks

and chants pali stanzas

pays homage to the god

……………

because I am praying like this

every day to the

Gods only, no

the people in this house

are happy and well-fed

Viiv’s lyrics, though often narrative, forge a new form in which she uses a few words- of course at times only a single word- in a line with all the vividness, yet her language to me is hieroglyphical. Her choice of words translates thoughts into visible images.

I have gone away from

the atmosphere of you sun,

your rays

can no longer fall upon me

delight me-

I am headed high into the sky

away from the roots of desire

which pull me down-

anchor me to

the fresh green leaves

of your tempestuous love.

Vivi has an extensive range of themes encompassing every aspect of life.

She is such a multi- disciplined, well-read poet that she even uses complex psychological concepts such as anorexia, an eating disorder, as one of her themes. See how she captures the mentality of the present day youth in

I am ecstatic when
Someone idly says
How skinny you’ve become.

‘Stitch you eyelids shut’ will definitely go down the annals of Sri Lankan English literature as a collection of poetry with essentially a stylistically innovative piece of work that provides both delight and wisdom to the reader.

We see in Vivi a social critic rooted in our socio cultural locality searching for meaning of life with intellectual passion for truth.

Reviewed by Anil Pagoda Arachchi
Senior Lecturer,
Siyane National College of Education, Veyangoda