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Alfred Massa: Fl-Għabex
A Collection of poems: 1996 -2006.
S Dom Communications Ltd, 2015. 111 pp.

Lately, Alfred Massa has been very busy churning out a number of highly-appealing novels in Maltese. This is something he has been doing for years, after all, which classifies him as one of the most proficient and prolific local writers in this genre.

As he himself admits, however, in the foreword to his latest collection of poems, Fl-Għabex, he is essentially a poet and – in my opinion – one of the most emotive and sensitive that I know of.

In all his novels, with an utter sense dedication to a cause, Massa invariably touches every aspect of life from different angles and it is his wont to stress most emphatically on some moral point without being overtly or tediously didactic.

And he does the same, with an even greater intensity in his poems. In the two preceding collections: Fjur tal-Ġebel (1994) and Diwi fil-Maqdes (2000), this was evident to a degree; the verses were invested with all the power that poetry can offer. And, in this collection, it is even more so, the poet more than ever conscious of the passing, fleeting, years with more than just the hint of his twilight in the background.

Fl-Għabex is different in more senses than one, going by the typical format that poetry collections are locally published. In the first place, Massa has done away with the usual critique to the poems and each poem carries no title, but simply the date when it was written. This makes the whole book a very interesting and actual diary of the poet’s life and experiences between 1996 and 2006.

Every sentiment is touched, particularly love, in all its forms

Reading this fine collection of verse, the reader does not need any titles. Here, the real value of each poem lies in the art, in the sentiment itself, which shifts from poem to poem in a kaleidoscope of varied hues and intense emotions.

Indeed, every sentiment is touched, particularly love, in all its forms. There’s maternal love, marital, filial, with a whole gamut of emotions depicted, from pain to disappointment, joy, bitterness and even the sublime ecstasy essence of love. Then, there are all the negative aspects of humanity: greed, lust for power, envy, egotism, tyranny and the irredeemable reality of a world seeking its self destruction.

And, in the face of all this, the poet is cynical. But, he still hopes for a better world, although he is quite conscious of his own coming twilight, evidently knowing very well that, in spite of his hopes, the world itself is probably heading towards its own inevitable twilight.

The book cover, befittingly depicting a sunset, is sad and mournful, evoking a Chopin nocturne. And, indeed, most of the poems here are nocturnes, cris de coeur that echo through the sunset that the poet meditates and dwells upon, as he nurses his hope that the dawn will fare better. This is the hope that springs eternal in every poet’s heart, irrespective of its probable futility.

This collection, neatly published with very clear and readable print, is a must for all lovers of true poetry, particularly for those who still treasure the Maltese language as it should be written.