"Carnival of the Vague" by Malinda Seneviratne

 

Carnival of the vague[M1] 

Raindrops wearing bird-song shoes
intermittently measured cobblestone byways,
a ghost train whistled to a ship without sailor —
the wind told the ghost guard ‘undeliverable’
and the ghost engine driver told the railway track
‘we know better, don’t we?’
An encyclopedia opened to an empty page,
poetry flew from a television screen,
the turmeric turned in silence in accommodating soils,
burnt out matchsticks decided to set up camp
and a caterpillar in a faltering voice asked
‘can I stay in your plantain peel tent until the night is done?’
A lipstick stain danced around the rim of a glass
a gaze turned red wine into white
and memory-blush made it crimson, by and by;
some words were probably said, but I am not sure
for there is no stall for convictions
in the carnival of the vague.

15^th July 2021

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 [M1]A Carnival is an in-between space where one lets go and have fun.

Thing that are not acceptable in “real life” are the norm in carnivals.

In Latin America, one might look at carnivals as a celebration of life.

However,  the Joycean carnival in this poem  lacks the colour, sparkle and the sounds associated with such occasions

1.      Raindrops wearing birdsong shoes walked along byways paved with cobblestones – that’s a beautiful visual/auditory image – something I would love to claim as my own

2.      A train that was no more tries to catch the attention of a ship without sailors – it wants the ship to deliver something, it seems

3.       But the wind carries the ships message and delivers it to the guard of the train – the message is undeliverable

4.       The ghost train is not put off

5.      Next the focus shifts to an empty page in an encyclopedia – encyclopedia is something we turn to answers   but not this.

6.       There is no grace and art in our soul so there is no poetry on TV

7.       Things and creatures personified – quotations make things more real  - this is what we would come to see in a carnival – the bazaar

8.      A lipstick stain danced around the rim af a glass – visual image

9.      A vague sense of dissatisfaction permeates the entire poem