Vidyan Ravinthiran's second collection is a book of sonnets for his wife. These are love poems that turn analytical, consider the world, and in which the pronoun 'we' aspires to stand for a larger community, including (if you like) readers themselves. Many describe life in the North East for a mixed-race couple, considering both the redemptive force of love and the cultural origins of our discontent. Brexit; racist and sexist abuse; class; our work-life balance, and our relationship with institutions (be it our employer, or the NHS); taboos surrounding mental health; civil war in Sri Lanka; media representation of minorities; immigrant anxieties: these poems look inward, but also outward. Worrying at the link between society and our private lives, they scorn a politics which would put us all in separate boxes. Love, and imagination, may not conquer all, but as recent shocks suggest, 'we' must at least try to understand people different to us. Poetry Book Society Recommendation.
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[I was reading my book by the window / waiting for you when I noticed one flower / of those you'd artfully splayed had snapped - TODAY]***
(@BloodaxeBooks, 20 June 2019, 64 pages, ebook, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I'd never heard of the poet before. However, I stumbled across this book a few days ago on a website which listed the bloggers top poetry books of 2019. So I decided to read it. A funny side note is that I was about 75% of the way through and thought the poems didn't have titles because I changed my page background to black which somehow hid all the titles. This was a pleasurable, indulgent read. I enjoyed every poem in the collection. Ravinthiran uses vivid, beautiful and sometimes intense imagery to bring every word and impression to life. I loved the references to love and culture. Such beautiful poems.
