A Second Sunrise: Poems by Cheran

by Cheran

The sea swallowed the sun splitting open, spraying crimson blood over the clouds.

A Second Sunrise showcases the best poems of Cheran, an accomplished poet of our times. The Sri Lankan civil war looms over much of his work. Poems of the precariousness of love are interwoven with poems of war. The idyllic seascape of 1977 when

Waves lap along the shore spreading within me the sea

is ruined forever by the experience of war (1981-89). These are followed by poems of exile and the experience of the diaspora (1993-2003).

Now there is left only a great land wounded. No bird may fly over ituntil our return.

Finally, 2004 onwards, there are poems that take us to the devastation of May 2009, by when

The sea has drained away Tamil has no territory Kinships have no name.

Genres: Poetry

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[•Paula•]

Only read excerpts for uni

[Manikya Kodithuwakku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evocative and powerful.

[Divya · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always with translated works, I wish to read the original side-by-side :)

Some favourites from this collection include the title poem, Parting, On the banks of the river, and Merged landscapes.

[Deepa Ranganathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant collection. Each of these poems must be read more than twice at least. They are dark, deep, disturbing and delightful. All at the same time.

[Sneha Bhattacharjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“When you are oppressed,
You see the blood of tears.

When you are the oppressor,
You see the tears of blood.”
- ‘War - A very short introduction’

These and many such poignant poems find a space in this collection of poems by Cheran.

His poetry demonstrates that the personal is political. His reminiscing through the voice of the poet of his experience in Sri Lanka allows us to see from a deeply personal perspectice the human consequences of policial bestiality and ideological obsession.

Cheran’s poems contribute to writing an alternative history of the ethnic conflict and civil war in Sri Lanka, a history of the personal and the particular, a history written by poets.

Cheran’s poems harbour a sober voice of reason, responsibility and human decency, constituting a nagging presence to those perpetrating crimes against humanity.

[Anjali · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful, gut-wrenching collection of poetry from Sri Lanka, that laments the loss of peoples and homes.