The Ballad of Lady Vigilance Poet: Alexej Savreux Publisher: Spartan Press
Disunity and diversity are often the foundation bricks of social chaos and only an artist’s brain can comprehend as well as voice out the concerns lining this. Densely layered and occasionally complex, The Ballad of Lady Vigilance is a collation of real, unreal, related, unrelated, uncanny, implausible (sometimes) scenarios that scream mockery of the sorts. Juxtapositioning the concepts of pleasure with pain, light with darkness and life with death, the poet weaves satire in all of his pieces. Even when he uses free verse in most of the poems, he deftly incorporates half-rhymes that aid the flow. There’s ample usage of personification, transferred epithet and yes, metaphors!
Deriving connections from Greek mythology, Zen Buddhism and Quantum Physics, the verses provoke critical thinking. A misanthropist of the sorts, the poet’s cynicism for the messed-up society is palpable to a large extent. In fact, he adorns the cap of a worrywart and predicts a dystopian world where peace, calm and harmony don’t exist. Through the lines ‘A disaster upon the dishevelled ears of yore‘, he explores the pathos of living in the present acquisitive world that doesn’t miss any opportunity to display its apathy.
‘To vanish from the land, like a handful of sand‘, ‘I’m told to run, but I haven’t got the legs‘ and ‘the funeral of life is the death of soul and the failure to fly‘ are some of the lines that have stayed with me even after finishing the book. Though cryptic in nature, they offer so many perspectives. I might not have interpreted it accurately but that’s how poetry works, isn’t it? Talking about the will to survive in the midst of blood-sucking counterparts is brave indeed. Using analogies to reaffirm that suicide is not the only solution is also audacious. And such little nothings comprise this collection that is bound to make you reflect, probably probe the conscious and ignite hatred towards self for living in oblivion even when things are crystal clear.
Divided into two parts, this collection of poems has been written over the course of 16 years and offers first-hand insight into the mind of an artist. It’s chaotic, messy and filled with thoughts that arise owing to random observations of the surroundings. Yet these assorted threads seemingly come together when viewed from a peripheral lens. Hence, overall, The Ballad of Lady Vigilance is multiplex and often confusing. But still, it has the potential to linger for longer.
Disclaimer: I’m not a poetry aficionado but I have tried my best to decipher what might have been going on in the poet’s artistic mind. Excuse me for any wrong interpretations.
Best wishes to the poet!
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