Amy Abdullah Barry

Throughout the collection, evocation of place and people is a particular delight; ‘the snow-robed Himalayas’ (A Himalayan Bus Ride), ‘above me, a zebra dove-singing,’ (At Ferringhi Beach, Penang) and (Delhi), ‘People are sleeping,/their mouths open, swallowing shadows.’ At Grandma’s presents an unforgettable portrait of a woman whose dwelling rests; ‘On stilts, a house above the sea’. Her visiting grandchildren, among whom is Barry, enter into this world ‘shoeless’. When it’s time to leave, ‘After a flurry of kisses,/she stands framed in the open door,/tiny in her floral Nyonya blouse,/Her hair is sun-baked sand, /her curls white-tipped waves.’ Barry’s grandmother is a reminder of older island Irish women long ago, finding independence in their own small spaces, smoking their duidín (clay pipe). In Barry’s grandmother’s case, ‘She blows cheerot smoke/with a regal air.’ www.salmonpoetry.com www.facebook.com/turaspress www.dedalusbooks.com

Poems from Barry’s adopted homeland are also present. She ably infuses the Irish landscape and neighbourly relationships with memories of her birthplace. In Remedies, she describes the countryside as ‘roaring verdant wild nettles/hymn the air, an invitation to harvest.’ A neighbour’s remedy for arthritis brings Barry to her father (Papa) and his many remedies – ‘cinnamon in boiled water,/to relieve aching muscles,/betel leaf to stop nosebleeds./ginger for a healthy heart,/. The poem closes on a scene where Barry makes familiar food, ‘fried rice,/tinged with chatters/of ginger and scallions.’This dish is not complete without the addition of the ‘steamed nettles’, a charming unification of two distinct but different places. Symbiosis, a desire to find common ground is a recurring theme within these pages. Barry’s poems are undoubtedly love letters to her roots but through the prism of her adopted homeland.

*’The Apple that Astonished Paris’ by Billy Collins (University of Arkansas Press, 1996).

All the above books can be purchased in reputable bookshops or directly from the publishers at the websites below.

By Debbie Orme