Review by Timothylcarson -- Bleeding Gull - look, feel, fly

[Timothylcarson]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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Bleeding Gull is a collection of free standing poems by a single author. I give this 2 out of 4. Raed AlJishi brings a romantic and visually compelling turn to his many poems. The poems are fairly brief, each one easily fitting on one page. Each strain is terse and tightly woven, one line generally evoking one or more images or allusions and then moving to the next. The tone is introspective, often reflection deep feelings around the experience.

As one who loves poetry I have to admit that I was often lost in metaphors or aspects of life to which I felt disconnected. The descriptions were simply from cultural experience I don’t share. Though the language is English, it is clear that it is not the first tongue of the author. It would be fascinating to know if these poems were translated from verse already composed in Arabic or Farsi or one of the first languages of the author. As an English speaker and writer I can feel the very subtle shades of expression that don’t quite make it in translation.

Nevertheless I enjoyed the many ways the author described not only experiences but his feelings about that reality. In that respect he reminded me of Rumi or Hafiz. Though I enjoyed each poem, I certainly did not understand each one equally. Here is a portion of my favorite poem on Grieve:

Some grief can’t end

Till it hurts you more

Than you bear to speak.

I think this collection would be best appreciated one poem at a time, perhaps one a day. Read sequentially one can become lost in the series of subjective experiences and observations of the author. On the other hand, each poem taken alone can be enjoyed like a good chocolate; not two or three at a time, but just one.

The author's creativity is shown, however, in his transfer of metaphor from one function of a being to another, and from one being to another. In the poem Hanging Out a flower will not wilt, which we might expect, but the thorn cannot sing, which is a surprise. Neither of that seems to translated to the person who, like bread is broken. The images and meanings move freely - sometime pushed beyond a connection that means something - at least to this reader. But this is the language of emotion and not rationality. And on that score Bleeding Gull flies out of the park.

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Bleeding Gull - look, feel, fly
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