Qaisar Bashir, a wonderful artist, after the success of hisdebut translation “AKH DOUR” is back with his first collection of 46 poemsnamely “THE CRY OF WOUNDED SOULS”. The collection is a knowledgeable, usefuland affectionately committed work of the poet. He has an unsubdued energy forlife. His enthusiasm to write and pour his emotions is exemplary. Being atranslator, author, poet and critic, he has proved his mettle in every genre ofliterature. The usage of poetic ingredients used by the poet shows his masteryover the language and creativity of the poet.
The marvelous artistry is visible in almost every poem. Thepoet has used hybridized style while writing the poems. There are Haikus,Tankas, Nonets and Fibonacci poems and the collection sums a few poems oftraditional style as well. The diction and the content of the poems are goingto touch every literature lover in general and the inhabitants of Kashmirvalley In particular. The plight and sufferings of the people of poet’shomeland are depicted in a very lucid way. Besides the universality of themes,the poems revolve round themes of braid chopping, rapes, dejection,helplessness, spilled blood that is summed up beautifully in this collection ofbrilliant artistic excellence. The poet has spoken of resistance, tragedy andsufferings that people have witnessed during the long three decades ofdeep-rooted conflict, which seems to have entered the psyche of everyindividual as well as the poet.
Initially, as a poet it may not have been his intention towrite the poetry on such subject but the tragedies surrounding the poet seemsto have an inescapable and haunting effect which might have resulted thispublication. The tragedies, corpses, explosions, killings of innocents,soldiers, and rebellions that form the headings of everyday local dailies anddebates in this patch of land might have overwhelmed the poet, and an artist,who witness and see piles of tragedies around is bound to write on the subjectwhich could be easily understood to the readers of “THE CRY OF WOUNDED SOULS”.
The poet has given an indigenous touch of his nativelanguage to create an impact of tragedy in one of his poems in an artisticmanner:
He rose from his place.
Caught the birdie.
Lightly stroked its feathers.
Paused. And then, muttered:
“shaayed chus pellath aamut… yi chi
Kasheer, ghandu rusti”.
In one of the poems, the poet has drawn a comparison
When I write,
A voice rises
From my soul like foam
On the crest of a wave,
Threshes the strands
Of my being,
and then, retreats and dies
as buds in Palestine.
The revolutionary poems also occupy the content of thepoetry where poet seems optimistic about the future of his tragic land and thepoem “In memory of Aasifa” freezes the blood of its readers the way tragicincident has been described
“Baba, Baba”, Aasifa continually cried
Till they hit her head with a stone; ah’she died!
The metaphoric use in one of the Fibonacci poem deserveshonour and admiration wherein the poet has blamed the neighboring country forits stubbornness
Too
Weak
Are the
Petals of
These flowers, to bear
The storm of their stubborn neighbours!
The foreword of the book is written by the poet ofinternational stature Lily Swarn and blurbs by award winning poets like DrSantosh Bakaya, Vinita Agarwal, and Prof. Hameeda Nayeem is an acknowledgmentof appreciation of this wonderful book.
The book deserves a place on each shelf. All poetry loversmust read and feel an insightful and landmark achievement of the poet inassessing the indigenous climate must read it. I wish the poet all the best forhis future works and contributions.