Safety Pins by Petar Tchouhov (reviewed by Morelle Smith)
Published by Ciela
ISBN 978-954-28-0751-3
Safety pins are objects that can sometimes be of vital importance, holding together two items - usually of clothing - that would spell disaster for us should they remain separated. [Think of when you're about to give a performance when your zip breaks or a button falls off, or you are travelling and your shirt or trousers split.] They form necessary but fragile attachments [for we know that sometime in the future, a more permanent attachment is advisable, if we want to feel secure in our clothes.] The poems in this collection combine that feeling of intense delight with an acknowledgement of the transitory or fragile nature of the two objects ideas or images which are linked together. These attachments or relationships may be delicate and ephemeral, but how glad we are in the present moment, that they have formed their unusual combinations.
As well as having published several books of poetry and prose, Petar Tchouhov is an experienced writer of haiku. I have only ever written about half a dozen haiku in my life but when he talks about haiku I immediately realise that what I wrote probably were not true haiku at all. At the same time, he says that in the west we should not be too strict about the number of syllables because the Japanese alphabet is such that a whole syllable or even word can be displayed by one letter, so to put too much emphasis on the number of syllables can be to miss the main point of a haiku. He explained this as being [and this is where I realised that my so-called haiku were nothing of the kind] to find two images which would not normally be linked together and to create or discover a connection with them which gives us a feeling of insight or surprised recognition. I make a link in my mind with the surrealists, and their ideas of bringing together objects that have no obvious relationship with each other [such as an umbrella and a sewing machine on a dissecting table ] but a difference is that the surrealists were looking at the absurdity of life or its paradoxical nature or seeking to create a semblance of dream connections or associations, without necessarily working on these images to create a surprising relationship.
But Petar's haiku often create surprising links and there is a sense of recognition particularly as the objects or images described are often homely and everyday and so create a sense of intimacy as well as, so I feel, an enhanced appreciation of these objects, as we glimpse an inherent strangeness and even mystery in what we thought were humdrum or ordinary, at least nothing special. But here they are, suddenly special and glowing with the extraordinary.
Full moon
an orange from the bowl
Is missing
first snow
footprints leading
to the cobbler's shop
Of course that is the sign of all good poetry, that it should breathe life into what we skim over in our daily life, only half-noticing what is around us, and certainly not imbuing it with any particular significance. It's the poet's job you could say, to haul our attention out of its somnolent or distracted state, and make us see the familiar with new eyes. But to do it with so few words, with just a couple of carefully crafted images, is an ability I find admirable. It reminds me of Chinese painting, a few carefully placed brush strokes creating a whole image, for the space or spaces in between the lines as if linked by sympathetic strings, vibrate with their own communication.
In these haiku it is the relationship between the images that, though not directly stated, comes alive and resonates in our minds, through the juxtaposition.
As in
petty quarrel
dandelion fluff
in her hair
There can sometimes be the slightest touch of nostalgia, never over worked, merely hinted at -
morning fog
nobody sees
the falling leaf
All Souls' Day
I open my father's
black umbrella
but mostly, there is the sense of cherishing the small details of life, with a mixture of whimsy, affection and a clear and honed perception.
sunny morning
I love even
my neighbour's dog
full moon
one more ball
for the snowman
Many of these haiku have been published in haiku magazines and several of them have won prizes in international competitions. They are poems to delight, and to go back to, always refreshing, with their mixture of solidarity for the human condition, and a slightly wry smile at the oddness, often endearing, of life.
Petar Tchouhov's poetry was reviewed by Morelle Smith
Eileen Carney Hulme, Geoff Stevens and K V Skene are three deserving poets to come out under the Indigo Dreams imprint. Exciting, biddable books, with full colour gloss covers, interesting cover photos, good information on the back covers, and clean white paper with plenty of poetic content inside.
Eileen Carney Hulme is a personal friend so I know the long wait she had, when she was very loyal to Anthony at Bluechrome during his illness and was waiting to see if he would be able to follow her first, Stroking the Air, with a second book. She was rewarded for her patience when Ronnie Goodyer, who was previously editing at Bluechrome, took her on under his own publishing name, Indigo Dreams, which seems to suit Eileen's work like another title again. I said she's a friend, but she's also a poet I respect and I wrote a blurb for The Space Between Rain which is on the back of the book. So reviewing it as well doesnt quite seem kosher. However, I am obviously recommending it, on the back of the book itself. Go read!
Geoff Stevens is another friend - we can't help knowing active poets like Geoff, who has done so much to help other poets that there's a danger of overlooking the achievement in his own poetry. He's a relentless, open-air writer. I might have come up with the word 'adrenalin' myself, but I see he has used it as part of his title, Islands in the Blood, and other sources of adrenalin. Wales, Ireland, Scotland - there's a whole range of famous coastal pilgrimages here. If you've been to them, you think, Oh yes, if you've heard of them. you think Oh yes. If you havent been to some of them, well, visit them with Geoff. You'll be in the company of a resilient, quirky, ultimately very intelligent annotator and guide.
K V Skene is in some ways more quiet and traditional. She was born in Canada and lives in England, and has published quite extensively in both countries. Her credits include Flarestack, the Interpreter's House, The Journal. Her work is not English in a London-centric way, though it is fashionably vocabulary-conscious. You can Almost Hear their Voices includes many delicately written poems. eg An Appearance of Pelicans. the language slides rather than spits fire.
All these books are well structured and themed - Eileen covers personal loss, among other subjects, Geoff gives an almost selfless, extrovert view of his world, and K V Skene ranges over the social world and cities, despite the pelican. Very fine work in all three books, and a coup for publisher Ronnie Goodyer. Here's his website. You will probably enjoy the soundtrack, but if you dont you can easily turn the juke box off! There's also a wise Inquiry Form for any poets who hope to be considered for publication. [May 2010]