{"id":105320,"date":"2018-01-29T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=105320"},"modified":"2018-01-21T14:56:38","modified_gmt":"2018-01-21T14:56:38","slug":"the-fragrance-of-loss-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/01\/the-fragrance-of-loss-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fragrance of Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Fragrance of Loss by Udaya R. Tennakoon, Copyright<\/em><\/strong>\u00a9 <\/em><\/strong>Udaya R. Tennakoon, ISBN: 978-81-8253-056-0, First Edition: 2017, <\/em><\/strong>Cyberwit.net<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Speaking a language other than his mother tongue Sinhala he sees his journey and arrival into a land that cannot seem to fulfill his dreams.\u00a0\u00a0 It follows that his poems are those of himself and the other refugees who surround him. His A refugee\u2019s Night is on \u201ca snowy bench and no more,\u201d a rendition of the penniless traveler or the homeless. It is the pain of loss.<\/p>\n

But Udaya sees further and in \u201cthe lonely fish [that] swims freely\u201d (An Autumn Morning) he sees that the fish may be a meal for \u201cthe crane that [freely] sunbathes.\u201d In his loneliness and anger he sees the ultimate truth : one man may devour another.\u00a0 He must \u201csuppress excessive anger.\u201d\u00a0 His commands perhaps to all, but including himself : \u201cDo not let your blood boil\u201d (The Anger).\u00a0\u00a0 Tennakoon, like his fellow refugees and potentially all the Homeless is always angry and must struggle to contain his anger until he find a place in the nation he have adopted.<\/p>\n

There are, however, some poems of hope and less stark beauty as in this Haiku :<\/p>\n

Apple Flowers<\/strong><\/p>\n

End of winter born
\nApple flowers turn to fruit
\nA pregnant mother<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Udaya R. Tennakoon of Sri Lanka travels as part of those who escape their country whether because of war, famine, drought etc. They seem to try to reach Europe, as Udaya reached Zurich, but they spread out over many nations in a great Diaspora.\u00a0 As he describes in this Haiku they are like \u201chidden fish\u201d who spread out in \u201cwaves\u201d from different lands :<\/p>\n

Hidden Fish<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clear Water in Lake
\nMelting color by the waves
\nHidden fish gather<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mr. Tennakoon reveals in his Senryu that even a bird\u2019s freedom can be transitory.\u00a0 \u201cA door to open and close\u201d is an \u201cInvisible prison\u201d. These are his words in his Haiku A beautiful cage. Such is a refugee camp and any nation\u2019s border. And in Life and Space we find rooms harboring loss where life finds \u201cit\u2019s own tomb.\u201d\u00a0 It reaches even into marital life and penetrates the \u201cideal couple\u201d as if \u201cthe light is on.\u201d It brings the world that has abandoned them, that loss to destroy even their marital intimacy.<\/p>\n

In another Senryu Tears of other Tennakoon cries in the midst of a \u201cnews channel\u201d which has special meaning to him. Even with eyes closed he hears the sounds of loss, of war and the sobbing voices of his fellow refugees, the losses inflicted by the Diaspora.<\/p>\n

Tears of other<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eyes hidden
\nSad tears dropping on cheeks
\nA news channel keeps on<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The stark life of all the poor, with the same desires as the prosperous, is revealed in Tennakoon\u2019s Tanka as follows :<\/p>\n

Consumption<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unsold foods on racks
\nReduced prices for sale <\/em><\/p>\n

Today it expires
\n<\/strong>Desired dish to night I love
\nA bundle insists to buy<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the Tanka Earthquake I think Udaya speaks quite simply to all.\u00a0 He is sharing the feelings of a Nepalese and gives his \u201csorrow to Italy\u201d ! He has become although still refugee, now European !<\/p>\n

Udaya R. Tennakoon is a disciplined author and excellent throughout. I strongly advise you to read this book. I look forward to his next conquest of one or more of the different styles of poetry.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/p>\n

Mary Barnet, American poet, published 86 Sonnets for the 21st Century in 2015 & is being nominated for a second time for a Pushcart Prize. Her first book, <\/em>The New American: Selected Poems (Gilford Press 2006) was nominated for a Nobel Prize. It has been reviewed by Adam Donaldson Powell who calls the poems “carefully tailored pearls.” Janet Brennan, in her review of <\/em>The New American, calls it “intelligent and stunning poetry.” Grace Cavalieri says Mary is “a light to many Poets and to the World.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Udaya R. Tennakoon \u2013 Lives in Switzerland. Poet\/ Diaspora Writer, Journalist, Dramatist, Peace, Human Rights and Political Activist. Master of Art in Peace and Conflict Transformation. More about the poet may follow this <\/em>link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking a language other than his mother tongue Sinhala he sees his journey and arrival into a land that cannot seem to fulfill his dreams. It follows that his poems are those of himself and the other refugees who surround him. The Fragrance of Loss by Udaya R. Tennakoon, Copyright\u00a9 Udaya R. Tennakoon, ISBN: 978-81-8253-056-0, First Edition: 2017, Cyberwit.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":83463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}