Beyond the creaking reeds

Raymond Grech: Qasab Iċaqċaq: a collection of poems (Volume 1); self-published; 2017; 116pp

A poet is essentially a dreamer and many of his dreams thrive on hope, as his spirit floats restlessly all over, mostly in a metaphysical dimension of an idealism often shattered by grim reality.

Raymond Grech is one such poet. A veteran in the art and one of Malta’s best writers of verse, he is not only a dreamer of things beautiful, but also a creator of intense poetic visions that are in themselves evocative of a vast kaleidoscope of vivid and varied colours in their description of the poet’s own intimate thoughts, feelings and aspirations.

In this his first volume of poems, subtitled Is-Sejħa ( The Call) Grech is fully confident that poetry is not only his raison d’être but also his principal link with God and nature. Spirituality seems to fill him with a strong sense of security in the face of everything he writes about. He feels the joy of penning down his lines, sometimes in a cathartic, albeit nostalgic and personal way. And this adds to the beauty and the lyricism of his poems; clear examples of this are gems such as Ibq’għożżni Mulejja, Christus Victor, Il-Ġisem ta’ Kristu, Fdiwieti, Alla Ħaj and Il-Firda fuq il-Golgota.

In these, and in many other of his poems, the strong sense of spiritual joy is very often transcendental; there is a sense of a joie de vivre deriving from this interaction with the inner self and the poet is at once at peace with himself and the ideal world.

Resorting to other themes, mainly pertaining to things natural as well as matters of everyday life, this joy prevails. No hint of pessimism here; the poet cherishes hope, clings to it and is strongly hopeful of a better world than that which surrounds him.

As he clearly admits in his poem Karavan, Grech is in perfect harmony with his conscience and this fully provides enough thematic material in support of auto-definition. Yet, the quest for truth, the sense of a certain uneasiness, can be easily and frequently read (and felt) be- tween the lines, as subtle as the oblique moments of sadness here and there which, in spite of all the prevailing optimism a poet may cherish and cultivate, can never be completely extricated from harsh reality.

The book opens with an excellent introduction by Prof. Oliver Friggieri, as well as a few introductory words from the poet himself.

An innovation are the two analytical studies set right among the poems themselves, much like two intermezzi in a massive opus. One is by Alfred Massa about the poem Djalogu and the other by Tarċisju Zarb about the poem Il-Poeta li jishar.

At the end of the book Grech has very conveniently added an explanatory glossary of seemingly archaic words used in his poems, as well as a photo of himself and a short biography.

Qasab Iċaqċaq has been a very apt choice as a title for this book. The metaphor of creaking reeds fully complements the contents of the books as does the front cover, making it at once a collection of poems to be cherished and highly appreciated by all lovers of poetry, as well as a fitting tribute to Maltese literature.