I'm not a big reader of poetry. Not that I'm opposed to it, actually when I was younger I wrote quite a few poems. Yet, like the poems I wrote, I prefer dare I say a simpler poem? I loved Shel Silverstein as a child, okay I still love Shel Silverstein. I love the spoken word poetry of Canadian, Shane Koyczan. Yet, I hesitate to call their work "simple", especially Koyczan. I guess, I just struggle with more abstract poetry that I found in Rain Inside.
I actually got more out of the introduction of this collection, which was written by the translator Omnia Amin and explained the background of the poet, Nasrallah. His exile from his Palestinian homeland, the threats he has received, the prohibition of his work both in publication and in readings. I was aware of the struggles of Palestine peripherally, but I've become more aware of the turmoil in that area of the world through this introduction as well as recent events (US embassy being moved to Jerusalem).
Following the introduction I really, really wanted to enjoy, understand and garner the emotion, heartbreak and resistance in these poems. Yet, I found them so abstract that I couldn't relate, couldn't feel any of those things I was hoping to feel. I read them aloud, I read them slowly, I paused between each poem, but I simply could not find the rhythm, the spirit, the soul of the poems that I'm sure Nasrallah wrote them with.
I did mark a couple passages from some of the poems that did strike me:
"A beautiful morning is one that passes and I am not killed."
"Maybe I know the whole story but hide part of it from myself to love the story more."
"The Hour of Birth - A crazy awakening has languished in my blood for a thousand years. It disturbs the dust to become a desert or a carnation."
"Shadows - Our souls have become shadows in the dust, so who will circle around us after they leave? Who will visit us on a pilgrimage so we can renew time in all place? Shadows might have shadows: Them...us...you...and you...and me.
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