ENDLESS ROADS, RALPH TATHAGATA, IMAGE BOOKS
BY FRANK DUMBIRI Saturday, March 17, 2012 Life has always been referred to as one long journey from the shores of birth, across the ocean of the living, to the shores of death. The road is a symbol of this journey. Every day, we wake up, leave our house and enter the road to our various destinations. But the question is: do we always get to these destinations. On the surface, we get to our office or shop or wherever our business is located, but do we arrive at our set goals at the end of the day, week, month or year? These are some of the questions that tug at your heart as you turn the pages of Endless Roads the first collection of poems from Ralph Tathagata.
One may liken the collection to the experience of someone having a series of nightmares and instead of waking up into the much anticipated dawn, finds himself waking from one nightmare to another, within the same sleep. Dawn thus becomes a mirage with which its apostles lure the unwary and ignorant traveller deeper into the maze of endless roads. The terrifying state of this experience is aptly captured in the following lines taken from the signal poem, Dynamite: When will this labyrinth of byways/ Overtake the twisted twilights / When will sunrise the new generation/ Leap over the dark grove and confront sunset.
The word 'sunrise' as used in the third line above is not the traditional noun that it is known for, but a verb. This is one thing you must know about the Tathagataish language - words are often used in unconventional, unique classs that give the language a somewhat exotic form. A good dose of this unique language could be found in 'Five Incantations', the second poem in the collection.
The poem 'Pestilential Voice' vividly brings to mind the arrogance and pomp of the political class who, in no small way, has contributed to the weaving of the maze that has become the nightmare of sojourners trapped in the endless roads from this poem, it is no longer a mystery why politicians who come up with a promise to make things better, often end up worse than their predecessors; for: As I stand at the city gate built with/ The sand and water of oblivion/Let me seek my strength in memories/And not recollections of events
Here again, we have the Tathagataish language at work. Are the last two lines of the above extract not self-contradictory? What are memories if not recollections of past events? The above questions may seem on the affirmative but think again - do 'memories' and 'recollections' convey the same message? The answer, of course, is no. while 'memories' is passive, ' recollections' is active in involvement. And it is upon this passive nature society that whims and caprices of the ruling class are founded.
Beyond the central thread of man's journey on earth, Endless Roads, as a collection, also hints at the journey of man from one sphere of existence to another in what mythology has described as reincarnation. In fact, one of the illustrations on the front cover of the book is a pair colliding circles of eternity which has always been the symbol of reincarnation. Man's journey on earth thus becomes a microcosm of this larger cosmic journey. Is the poet here referring to the fact that these cosmic journeys are just as fruitless and futile as those of men on earth? If that his true, then, is Nature not just as guilty as man in the entire scheme of things? Consequently, is life itself to blame for its own woes? Is futility of existence a universal order? These are some of the questions that the book entitled Endless Roads leaves for its readers.
Endless Roads is trim and slim in package and is quite portable. This reader friendly packaging is a huge plus, especially in this part of the world where the reading culture is abysmally low and people look for excuses not to read what they should read. Indeed, Ralph Tathagata's first poetry offering to be published stands a big chance of asserting itself in the cluttered poetry world.
Dumbiri Frank Eboh is Lagos-based journalist, writer, literary critic and the current Publicity Secretary, Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA), Lagos chapter.