Masba, My Love is not only a unique collection of poems but
also a deeply moving plea for respect for mother earth, Suriname and its
people.
The centre piece of this collection is “Msiba My Love”. It is a
symphonic poem in three movements which profoundly explores the many layers of
an economic and ecological crime that was committed in Suriname in the
1960s. In the name of progress a multi-
national company together with the Dutch colonial government forcibly
removed thriving Maroon communities
from their ancestral homes to create the Afobaka hydro electric dam. These
communities had been living there for over 200 years and held a sacred
spiritual connection with their mother communities in Africa. Msiba
communicates the excruciating pain caused by the severing of the spinal
cord of not only the Maroon nation but the nation of Suriname. The emotional
intensity aroused by the words, images, rhythms, and cadences of this
fascinating poem is so great that one young Surinamer was moved to tears just
reading the poem.
Msiba however is more than the poem. It is an artistic effort
to use both the force of the poem and the powerful impact of photographic
images to create a multimedia presentation.
Each image in the book has been carefully selected to act either as a
companion or a counter point to the lines in the poem. “Reading” this poem is a multi sensory
experience which resonates at all three important levels physical, emotional,
and spiritual.
“Forest Tears”, the
second poem, poses the questions that we all need ask about our relationship
with the planet today. The collection ends with the exquisitely beautiful “I
love you” which celebrates simultaneously the love of a woman and the
country she comes from. The stunningly beautiful images of Suriname and the
poem evoke the joy of fresh new love.
Ivan Khayiat is a gifted writer with the ability to touch
the reader at the very core of his being. Everyone who reads these poems will
do so over and over. Each time the reader will come away with even greater
insights into our need to be attuned to mother earth. Each reader will also
feel the pain of the vicious crime that was committed to this peaceful nation
nearly 50 years ago.
Milton M.Drepaul
