Review: Legend of an Iron Tower and Other Fables . . .
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 20, 2013
"The road of life can only reveal itself as it is traveled; each turn in the road reveals a surprise. Man's future is hidden." AnonymousEvery gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.Dwight D. EisenhowerI don't often wander the halls of poetry, tracing my fingers along the walls, breathing the scented air. And perhaps this is not poetry, not in the strictest sense. But to me, these words are poetry, touching my heart, my mind, my soul. A beautiful weaving of words, reaching inside you, touching those hidden places where love and grief and longing reside.The nature of evil, of grief and loss, of exhaustion and despair. And yet, through all, a deep vein of goodness and light, of Heaven and Earth and all things between.Natalia Dobzhanskas words speak to these times, to times of pain and times of love, an an overweening hope for redemption. Her words, filled with the horror and beauty and loss of her Ukranian homeland..... a land which, in 1657-1686 suffered "The Ruin" a devastating 30-year war amongst Russia, Poland, Turks and Cossacks for control of Ukraine. Where once again, as always, the people suffer the pain and death while those in power drink the blood and hopes and lives of the poor.There are touchstones amongst these stories, words which caress the soul of each fable. For each, a line which touched me . . .The Carrier"Oh, when will I be a carrier of Joy?"Legend Of A Sea And A Cliff"To join her and fly to the heavens where the flaming star is twinkling to us, calling us. . ."Together"And it bloomed so beautifully, though it was a guest from the south, and it did not fear the frosts..."A Wrapper"And, seeing that, the wrapper went drunk with still more pride . . .""And she was grateful to the wind . . ."Boots For The Refuse Collector". . . can trolls, someone may ask, can trolls really do good deeds?"Lilac". . . that its dust flew to all ends of the Universe, together with the light stolen from Niall . . ."A Hunchback"Oh, I am foolish, so foolish!" he reviled himself. "For the sake of illusory dream, I have wasted my life!"The Gift"Can anybody fail to notice how special she is?"Re-Lig... (Angel Incarnate)" The moment of the fall was long - but still, it was only an instant . . ."Story Of A Little Girl And A Fairy-Tale Castle". . . then it turned and dragged its way back pensively - to where a fairy tale lives and ends . . ."The Man In Whom A Dragon Lived"The dragon entered his heart along with an evil intention."Legend Of A River And Desert Wind"The Wind whirled and gusted, spilling out all his bitterness against the ungrateful, ungracious humans . . ."The Man Who Had No Face Of His Own"And he decided to go to a sage and ask him for advice about who he must look like now."Ballad Of A Sad Princess"And the sunrays broke her still wet tears into a rainbow, and the rainbow struck her in the eyes. . . "Poem Of A Cloud And The Sun"And the Cloud wept for the sprouts, and the sun let her go - "Legend Of An Iron Tower"Grief is always grief. Sorrow is not joy . . ."Doors" . . . the course of time will never cease, there will be no turning back to the past, will never be . . ."