Review by PompousTirePumper -- Walking In Blind: A Colle...
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PompousTirePumper
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- Latest Review: "Walking In Blind: A Collection of Poetry" by Kaviru Gayathri Samarawickrama
Review by PompousTirePumper -- Walking In Blind: A Colle...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Walking In Blind: A Collection of Poetry" by Kaviru Gayathri Samarawickrama.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Author Kaviru Gayathri Samarawickrama calls a spade a spade in the preface of her collection of poetry, Walking in Blind with a tagline stating, “all about emotions. From happy to sad, and mostly sad.”
Although this expansive collection of dreary free-verse dutifully illustrates the carnage of dysfunctional relationships the despondent attempts of clean-up, the repetitive subject matter and winging tone trumps Samarawickrama’s work as a whole.
The speakers in Walking in Blind do not offer any sense of resiliency after bad relationships, unrequited love and neglectful muses. Rather, the speakers retreat and choke on their hoard of self-pity. In many cases, the speakers who have been wronged often go back to the scene of the crime, taking back their tormentors. The result is predictable. Lines like “I gave a second chance/ For you to trash me again/ As I peeped from the garbage can/ I saw you with someone new” from “Charity Chances” on page 65 is one of many examples of this.
The result is that some of the works seem reoccurring and dreary. Perhaps by writing so many poems of the same likeness the writer is purposefully conveying the wretched cycle of the trap of abusive relationships. In any case, with the multiple attempts with unworthy suitors and similar undesired outcomes it is ponderous how one can be in the “walking in blind” when it comes to the characters she pines for and the situations they continually put her in.
The dehumanizing nature of many of these poems does not help much in moving the collection along in any which way. An example of the futility in some of Samarawickrama’s work that stagnates the collection as a whole is “All Alone in This Hell” on page 77. With lines like “Naming wishes that were pending,/ Just enough time to convince myself/ That I will be waiting for a long time./ But god didn’t budge,” it is hard for the reader to come to be moved and does not present the best emotional vehicle either north nor south.
Although Samarawickrama is guilty of a few B-level analogies and painfully cliché metaphors, Walking in Blind does offer poems interspersed with the doldrums-musings that are effective. It is clear that Samarawickrama possesses acumen and in some cases, brilliance. Also notable is her firm grasp on simple, no-nonsense free-verse which provides a flattering flow to even her weaker pieces.
Her acumen is evident in works like “Museums,” and “Explosions.” More pensive than sad, both pieces seem to be written from a more tranquil place which satisfies the reader. These interspersed beauties act like intermissions for the reader—to give the reader a brief reprieve before the vicious cycle of love, hate, and more hate continues.
In addition to “Museums” and “Explosions”, Samarawickrama wrote a cathartic stunner in, “Does it Hurt Inside,” on page 45 of the collection. Samarawickrama’s “Does it Hurt Inside” does provide some cerebral pushback in the form of well-crafted lines bathed in resentment and vitriol “His whispers, crawling down my belly,/ sending shivers, tingling sensations that I’m feeling in this moment,/ tell me honestly does my lies prick you from under the sheets?”
However, the speakers in these poems, who seem to commit the same mistakes in unworthy suitors, begs the question: Can one not triumph and grow after such brutal and soul-numbing indiscretions? For every dynamic poem like that shows Samarawickrama’s brilliance, there is a sister poem that stills the imagination shortly after. This pattern of sequencing a dynamic poem followed by a poem of such can be frustrating for the reader.
Ms. Samarawickrama is talented writer whose skills should warrant more diverse and polished pieces. She clearly possesses the tools to see the light, or at least feel it. Walking in Blind may be tough to wade through in terms of indistinguishable pieces but there is light in a literary sense.
I gave Walking in Blind 2 out of 4 stars. While brave and talent, the indistinguishable similarities that some of the poems share is a lot to bear. Even then so, Samarawickrama is worth the read due to her raw talent as a wordsmith and artistic courage. I would recommend this work five years from now when Samarawicka is writing literary killers on a consistent basis just to chart her growth. This would also be great for fellow poets to read—ones who do not fully extend themselves or hold back emotively. In any case, the collection’s most pensive portraits would be recommended to anybody who appreciates the beauty in darkness.
******
Walking In Blind: A Collection of Poetry
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
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Author Kaviru Gayathri Samarawickrama calls a spade a spade in the preface of her collection of poetry, Walking in Blind with a tagline stating, “all about emotions. From happy to sad, and mostly sad.”
Although this expansive collection of dreary free-verse dutifully illustrates the carnage of dysfunctional relationships the despondent attempts of clean-up, the repetitive subject matter and winging tone trumps Samarawickrama’s work as a whole.
The speakers in Walking in Blind do not offer any sense of resiliency after bad relationships, unrequited love and neglectful muses. Rather, the speakers retreat and choke on their hoard of self-pity. In many cases, the speakers who have been wronged often go back to the scene of the crime, taking back their tormentors. The result is predictable. Lines like “I gave a second chance/ For you to trash me again/ As I peeped from the garbage can/ I saw you with someone new” from “Charity Chances” on page 65 is one of many examples of this.
The result is that some of the works seem reoccurring and dreary. Perhaps by writing so many poems of the same likeness the writer is purposefully conveying the wretched cycle of the trap of abusive relationships. In any case, with the multiple attempts with unworthy suitors and similar undesired outcomes it is ponderous how one can be in the “walking in blind” when it comes to the characters she pines for and the situations they continually put her in.
The dehumanizing nature of many of these poems does not help much in moving the collection along in any which way. An example of the futility in some of Samarawickrama’s work that stagnates the collection as a whole is “All Alone in This Hell” on page 77. With lines like “Naming wishes that were pending,/ Just enough time to convince myself/ That I will be waiting for a long time./ But god didn’t budge,” it is hard for the reader to come to be moved and does not present the best emotional vehicle either north nor south.
Although Samarawickrama is guilty of a few B-level analogies and painfully cliché metaphors, Walking in Blind does offer poems interspersed with the doldrums-musings that are effective. It is clear that Samarawickrama possesses acumen and in some cases, brilliance. Also notable is her firm grasp on simple, no-nonsense free-verse which provides a flattering flow to even her weaker pieces.
Her acumen is evident in works like “Museums,” and “Explosions.” More pensive than sad, both pieces seem to be written from a more tranquil place which satisfies the reader. These interspersed beauties act like intermissions for the reader—to give the reader a brief reprieve before the vicious cycle of love, hate, and more hate continues.
In addition to “Museums” and “Explosions”, Samarawickrama wrote a cathartic stunner in, “Does it Hurt Inside,” on page 45 of the collection. Samarawickrama’s “Does it Hurt Inside” does provide some cerebral pushback in the form of well-crafted lines bathed in resentment and vitriol “His whispers, crawling down my belly,/ sending shivers, tingling sensations that I’m feeling in this moment,/ tell me honestly does my lies prick you from under the sheets?”
However, the speakers in these poems, who seem to commit the same mistakes in unworthy suitors, begs the question: Can one not triumph and grow after such brutal and soul-numbing indiscretions? For every dynamic poem like that shows Samarawickrama’s brilliance, there is a sister poem that stills the imagination shortly after. This pattern of sequencing a dynamic poem followed by a poem of such can be frustrating for the reader.
Ms. Samarawickrama is talented writer whose skills should warrant more diverse and polished pieces. She clearly possesses the tools to see the light, or at least feel it. Walking in Blind may be tough to wade through in terms of indistinguishable pieces but there is light in a literary sense.
I gave Walking in Blind 2 out of 4 stars. While brave and talent, the indistinguishable similarities that some of the poems share is a lot to bear. Even then so, Samarawickrama is worth the read due to her raw talent as a wordsmith and artistic courage. I would recommend this work five years from now when Samarawicka is writing literary killers on a consistent basis just to chart her growth. This would also be great for fellow poets to read—ones who do not fully extend themselves or hold back emotively. In any case, the collection’s most pensive portraits would be recommended to anybody who appreciates the beauty in darkness.
******
Walking In Blind: A Collection of Poetry
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: "Walking In Blind: A Collection of Poetry" by Kaviru Gayathri Samarawickrama
