Rih min-Nofsinhar by Immanuel Mifsud, Adrian Grima

Abstract

^^^^H "identity search." Lipus's freeverse, ^^^^H with its roving first-personnarrator ^^^^H who both converses and observes, ^^^^H ismeticulously built upon both aes ^^^^H thetic and philosophical concerns. ^^^^H There is a strong sense of fullness in ^^^^H the poems, imparted by short, eru ^^^^H dite, visually rich sentences spiked ^^^^H with powerful verbs that convey ^^HJ^I decisive, ifbrief, action. But there is ^^B[H also an abiding feeling of expectan ^^|(H cy.There is a positive kind of antici H|l pation in the poems thatwaits or ^^H|H calls for fulfillment,or recognition, ^^BjjH but there is also amood of incipient ^^ H defeat, relocation, clogging, threat ^^||H ening. Finally, there is everywhere Hfl the need to take stock, to line up ^^|1H and be counted, toget to theessence ^^H|H of things, even to impose order on ^^^^H multifarious lifein itsbewildering or ^^^^H murky manifestations. ^^^^H Lipus setsup forthereader a ^^|SH kind of archetypal tension in our ^^B^H consciousness. On theone hand there ^^B^| is theworld, familiarand chronicled ^^^^H and rendered fecundby her inimita ^^^^H ble language, and on theother hand ^^^^H there is an absence or a stillness, a ^^^^H kind of no-man's-land?both tran quil and pagan, perhaps?where we ^^^^^1 findout what animates or linksour ^^^^H blood and bones. The individual, including you and me and thenar ^^^^^1 rator alike, must take note of the gravity of our task: "In an enduring ^^^^^1 / singular tense,you lap at theedge ^^^^H of your ^^^^H John K.Cox ^^^^^M North Dakota State University Immanuel Mifsud, Adrian Grima, et al. Rih min-Nofsinhar San Gwann, Malta. Edizzjoni Skarta. 2008. 60 pages. 6. isbn978-99932-652-5-2 Slowly but very surely, contempo rary Maltese verse is garnering an ever-greater presence on the inter lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll national scene, in a process running parallel to the broadening ofMal tese poetic expression in terms of spirit and thematic scope. Whereas theMovement for thePromotion of Literature of the 1960s was closely linked to political independence, this second epanouissementofMal tesepoetry isnot such a joyous one, and necessarily so. The shift from insularity to the acute awareness of formingpart of aworldwide jigsaw where the laws of cause and effect stretchfarbeyond political and geo graphical borders?particularly in view of the changes sufferedby the global environment and thepeoples thatinhabit it?bridges Maltese writ ingwith thegrowing supranational continent of "green" literature. RiR min-Nofsinhar (Wind from the south) is an essential book of poetry on climate change by Imman uel Mifsud and Adrian Grima, two well-traveled authors who have fully understood Jonathan Bate's reassertion that literatureessentially works upon consciousness and leads to unpredictable long-term practi cal consequences (The Song of the Earth, 2002). Following in the steps of publications such as Earth Shat teringand Feeling thePressure, the poems ofRiRmin-Nofsinharare inter spersed with prose contributions from a wide range of social actors. Launched during last June's World Fest, the impact of the publication can be gauged by the two editions printed within fivemonths, as well as by favorable reviews frompromi nentmembers of civil society and a speech inParliament by an opposi tion spokesman quoting a Mifsud poem in itsentirety. The planetarymeets the local in a series of compositions byMifsud entitled "The Poems of theSahara," inwhich a familyofMaltese farm lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll KARLO MiLA ujirh paintings bij Delicia Sampero AWell Written Body ers laments thedesert sand brought increasingly more often with the subtle, frightening noise of thesouth ern wind. In another local poem, Grima speaks of "The Ice-cream Man" transferring his business from the abandoned beach to the frontof a school, in plain language by no means devoid of a lyricalrhythm. To a large extent, the authors appear to have consciously sacri ficed aesthetics and metaphor in favor of a clearer message, in con trast to the more dense, probing poetry usually composed by both of them, and perhaps rightly so, in view of theurgencywith which this poetry needs to be communicated. Neville Bezzina of Friends of the Earth has pointed out thesing-along quality ofMifsud's poems as a sign that theeffectsof climate change are "a song we must all sing together"; meanwhile, Grima's freer, journal...