Bleeding Gull: Look, Feel, Fly by Raed Anis Al-Jishi

[Palmtree2k01]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Bleeding Gull - look, feel, fly" by Raed Anis Aljishi.]

[rbc=4]id84522-125[/rbc]Bleeding Gull: Look, Feel, Fly by Raed Anis Al-Jishi is a collection of poems exploring universal themes such as life, death and love as well as more contemporary ones like cancer and autism. The poems are short, fitting on one page, but the imagery and the messages are strong and thought provoking, leaving the reader in a meditative state. Verses like “My habit is being free/ And it could torture me” (A Habit), “Why can’t I/ Have a simple answer/ For a simple question?” (Blindness) or “Faces are deceiving/ Without their masks” (Masks) are philosophical observations expressed in simple but powerful words. The voice is sometimes feminine (when talking about breast cancer or waxing) offering readers many facets that one can identify with. In other words, there is a poem for everyone.



I read each poem at least twice before getting to the next one and so on. These are the kind of poems that need to be taken in, assimilated and consumed slowly. The collection is unitary regarding the style and voice. Each poem is carefully polished so they all belong together in this volume. The poems are sensitive and feminine so I wasn’t surprised when I learned that Raed Anis Al-Jishi a feminist and a human rights poet. Written in free verse, the collection Bleeding Gull: Look, Feel, Fly has a poetic rhythm that incites you to look within yourself, feel love, sadness and happiness, and fly into the abyss of your own universe.



Raed Anis Al-Jishi tackles emotionally charged themes with spare words and strong visual imagery, the author by passes my cognition and tugs at my emotion from a visceral level. The almost spartan use of words delivers images with great clarity, and lets readers like me breathe between psychic punches to the gut.



The emotions brought up however aren't always gut-wrenching: one of my favorites actually takes the lighter side of things while keeping the poem compelling:



Are you suffering from

The anxiety of poetry

And the reading pain?



Take my letters.

Share the bread of ink,

Sea, and the salt of sailor's chants

With me.

Some grief can't end

Till it hurts you more

Than you bear to speak.







In as much as all the poems grab me by the lapels, the author is very gentle with his readers' attention. The sparse wording gives me time to digest what I witness, and allows me to deepen my understanding after the stark image I receive from the piece. I am left with a profound peek at something that is universally human, whether I am shown something of great violence or deep love. When I am told, "Chaos lives inside us/ We are practicing our sins/ To regain the feeling/ Of being human" I need a minute to digest something that interesting. The author's preference for brevity gives me just that!



i give this book a [b]3 out of 4 stars[/b] for all its delicacy and intricacy in presentation, the poems in Bleeding Gull: Look, Feel, Fly. does not lack strength in conveying its message. I would recommend it to all readers who need to cleanse their literary palate with a quiet, wise poetic voice.

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Bleeding Gull - look, feel, fly
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