Grappling with a vision of existence

Joe Saliba: Spiral – a collection of poems; Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2011, 170 pp. €14

The greatest emotional torture a poet can experience lies inhis need for self-expressionand, ironically, when he does express himself he is oftenmisunderstood.

Hints of nostalgia seem to exacerbate his pain at the thought that many things he sought to see set right are still wrong- Alfred Palma

A poet’s sensitive soul basks in ideals, aches for things beautiful, for peace, love and serenity; it is forever seeking answers to oft unanswerable questions, it spirals far beyond reality in a relentless search for the truth, which ultimately lies with God, the only solution to the enigma and the mystery of man’s existence on this planet.

Saliba’s first collection of poems Vjaġġ, was in more senses than one a symbolic voyage,a sort of pilgrimage highly charged with emotions, to atorrent of intimate outpourings, as the poet sailed away on his spiritual bark away from what would otherwise have interfered with his musings and distracted him from his own search for catharsis.

Spiral is, in fact, a continuity of that same voyage. The poems in this latest anthology were written between 1995 and 2010; 15 years have passed, during most of which Saliba was politically a very busy man.

Yet, he went on writing poetry, on which 15 years of further experience of life, both his private and the public one, have undoubtedly left their mark.

Although technically as powerful and inspired as much as those in Vjaġġ, the poems in Spiral are in a way much more intimate, more intense.

The poet is aware that time has passed, is passing, and he seems more preoccupied as he yearns poetically and otherwise for what he most cherishes: anidealised life, made worthwhile by his intense his love anddedication for family, friends, country.

Hints of nostalgia seem to exacerbate his pain at the thought that many things he sought to see set right or changed are still wrong and unchanged.

He seems to be still suffering from the spiritual angst that affects every true poet, and it is that very angst that tints most of these poems with deep purple and makes them real literary gems.

Poems such as L-Għanja taż-żmien, Tgħid hemm post għalina, Jekk illejla, Meta l-qamar, Fejn imorru? Kull darba, Nistenniek kull fil-għodu, Mulej, and the splendid Ma nafx fejn iterraq il-ħolm tiegħek, will easily confirm my judgement.

In the first preface to the book, As you walk along the corridors, Joe Friggieri comments expansively and almost psychologically, about Saliba’s continuous reference to the universe andthe pronoun You and, indeed, the universe here is in full harmony with the You to which the latter simply relates and then complements.

In the second preface, Magical Realism in Poetry, Fr PeterSerracino Inglott’s contention that “this is a vision of existence in the passage from one place to another” confirms even more strongly not only Saliba’s poetic treatment of this ‘vision’ but also his philosophical approach to it.

A very good idea was the addenda at the end of the book, listing a number of archaic words, or words use in poetic license, which needed explaining. Thus the message of the poem can arrive unhindered and the beauty of the poetry itself will undoubtedly be fully relished and enjoyed.

Equally charming and of appealing beauty are the final Ħajku u Mitejn oħra, 201 tiny three-lined poems, replete with sentiment, pathos, nostalgia, humour, wit even, which really are much like a shower of silvery confetti streaming down on all the superb 137 poems that came before them.