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PERSONAL & PROFANE: 50 Years of Verse
“His verse burns
with the fire
of righteous
anger.”
— Asiaweek
With fierce verse conjured from the depths of a mighty heart,
Cecil Rajendra is recognised as one of the Third World’s most
powerful voices, relentlessly championing the rights of the
downtrodden and dispossessed.
Personal & Profane is a collection of Rajendra’s finest work
spanning five decades, revealing a tender inner voice behind a
pugnacious front. In a polarised world, his work is enduringly
relevant and his burning fire, a beacon of hope.
with the fire
of righteous
anger.”
— Asiaweek
With fierce verse conjured from the depths of a mighty heart,
Cecil Rajendra is recognised as one of the Third World’s most
powerful voices, relentlessly championing the rights of the
downtrodden and dispossessed.
Personal & Profane is a collection of Rajendra’s finest work
spanning five decades, revealing a tender inner voice behind a
pugnacious front. In a polarised world, his work is enduringly
relevant and his burning fire, a beacon of hope.
146 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 7, 2017
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 29, 2023
This reader considers himself privileged and grateful to have had the chance to stumble upon this very essential read. There's nothing that hasn't already been said about Personal and Profane: from its lyrical verse, to its playful, inventive, visionary imagination, and its heartfelt, sincere empathy for people, deserving people (this reader hopes he got it right), and so many more wonderful and lovely aspects which this reader has not the insight and wisdom to describe with sufficient depth to do it justice.
In the words of Dato' (Dr) Anwar Fazal, it speaks truth to power.
Perhaps, no explanation is necessary. Why is the sun? Why is the rain? It just is. Have a look at these poems and you will understand.
Wives - 'And i took them both, as my wedded wives: Rebecca and Verse, for better or worse..'
Miles - 'i never say, i love you, words however heartfelt, when spoken, sound so false, & anyway, we're above all that, aren't we, my love?..'
Tenth Anniversary- 'and i am ever astonished, at how you still excite, these senses and ignite... you would have thought, 10 years might have brought, a dampening of the fires..'
Black Goddess- 'And once more, obsidian princess, i am drawn, to your lethean loveliness, flame and froth, liquid ebony, the more i drink, your black beauty, the more I crave, your fulsome body...'
Demerara Dream- 'The sugar-cane water seller, feeds a stiff, tumescent stem, into the cane crusher. First, the gleaming slit, refuses to admit, the too thick stalk...Satisfied, he slowly withdraws, the pulped stalk, drained of its elixir, now limp, no longer succulent, and tosses the useless, flaccid fibre into the gutter...'
My Message- '...but i want the cadences, of my verse to crack, the carapace of indifference, prise open torpid eyelids, thick-coated with silver...i want syllables, that will dance, pirouette, in the fantasies of nymphets, i want vowels that float, into the dreams of old men...i want the assonances, of my songs to put smiles, on the faces of the sick, the destitute and the lonely, pump adrenalin into the veins, of every farmer and worker, the battle-scarred and the weary...'
Song of Hope- 'i want to sing, of all that was, but no longer is, of all that, never was but, could have been'
White- 'WHITE is the colour, of latex, the text, of poverty is WHITE...WHITE is the colour, of forgetfulness, but blindness, and pain are also WHITE...'
and so, so many wonderful poems: If Only Our Prophets Were Women, No Celebratory Song, The Humane Voice, Polar Bears Don't Lie, Pearl of the Orient, Hustlers, Beyond Nationalism, Trees, The Price of Silence, Art for Art's Sake, To My Country, and so, so many more.
This reader hopes he is not violating any copyright laws. It is only his intention to show the brilliance and necessity of these poems that, in the reader's humble opinion, seeks to illuminate truth with the light of art, to create a better world through romance and the heart.
Why? For lack of a better explanation, it simply is, does.
In the words of Dato' (Dr) Anwar Fazal, it speaks truth to power.
Perhaps, no explanation is necessary. Why is the sun? Why is the rain? It just is. Have a look at these poems and you will understand.
Wives - 'And i took them both, as my wedded wives: Rebecca and Verse, for better or worse..'
Miles - 'i never say, i love you, words however heartfelt, when spoken, sound so false, & anyway, we're above all that, aren't we, my love?..'
Tenth Anniversary- 'and i am ever astonished, at how you still excite, these senses and ignite... you would have thought, 10 years might have brought, a dampening of the fires..'
Black Goddess- 'And once more, obsidian princess, i am drawn, to your lethean loveliness, flame and froth, liquid ebony, the more i drink, your black beauty, the more I crave, your fulsome body...'
Demerara Dream- 'The sugar-cane water seller, feeds a stiff, tumescent stem, into the cane crusher. First, the gleaming slit, refuses to admit, the too thick stalk...Satisfied, he slowly withdraws, the pulped stalk, drained of its elixir, now limp, no longer succulent, and tosses the useless, flaccid fibre into the gutter...'
My Message- '...but i want the cadences, of my verse to crack, the carapace of indifference, prise open torpid eyelids, thick-coated with silver...i want syllables, that will dance, pirouette, in the fantasies of nymphets, i want vowels that float, into the dreams of old men...i want the assonances, of my songs to put smiles, on the faces of the sick, the destitute and the lonely, pump adrenalin into the veins, of every farmer and worker, the battle-scarred and the weary...'
Song of Hope- 'i want to sing, of all that was, but no longer is, of all that, never was but, could have been'
White- 'WHITE is the colour, of latex, the text, of poverty is WHITE...WHITE is the colour, of forgetfulness, but blindness, and pain are also WHITE...'
and so, so many wonderful poems: If Only Our Prophets Were Women, No Celebratory Song, The Humane Voice, Polar Bears Don't Lie, Pearl of the Orient, Hustlers, Beyond Nationalism, Trees, The Price of Silence, Art for Art's Sake, To My Country, and so, so many more.
This reader hopes he is not violating any copyright laws. It is only his intention to show the brilliance and necessity of these poems that, in the reader's humble opinion, seeks to illuminate truth with the light of art, to create a better world through romance and the heart.
Why? For lack of a better explanation, it simply is, does.
Displaying 1 of 1 review