"On the White Empty Page" ....a must for poetry lovers.
To open that same window day after day, each time seeing something new in the old and the familiar, is an art seldom accomplished by ordinary mortals. But those who see anew, or think they do, may be called “poets-at-heart” at least. When such people are able to articulate their clear-sightedness through the application of exquisite, well-crafted words their painstaking endeavour earns them the title of “poet” true.
Chamnongsri L. Rutnin may well serve as a role model for this tortuous transition. And despite her denial at being one in “A Woman to her Daughter”, the first poem which graces her recently-launched On the White Empty Page, she is a true poet in every sense of the word.
She is also a poet who’s indeed worth tracking. There are a number of good reasons why. Firstly, because she is one of a very few Thais who writes poetry professionally in English; and secondly, because of the nature of her themes, and in particular the style she uses to deliver them.
But to introduce Khunying Chamningsri’s poetry, says revered literary critic and scholar Dr. Chetana NagavaJara, “is not an easy task”. Professor Chettana’s valuable critique, “An Aesthetic of Reticence: On Chamningsri L. Rutnin’s Poetry” published at the beginning of the book, brings out point by point what he sees as the difficulties. This essay is absolutely required reading for one to fully appreciate the poetry of this wordsmith, a former journalist before abandoning that career to devote 15 years of her life as full-time housewife to leading ophthalmologist Uthai Rutnin.
Those readers who take the hard-line approach of “art for life” and never “art for art’s sake” might find most poems in this well-designed volume a little too romantic as though such a disposition is a mortal sin.
Professor Chetana’s reference to the French word 'pudeur' in analyzing the poet’s “aesthetic of reticence” is most elucidating. Based on this traditional exercise where “reservation” is the key word, Khunying Chamnongsri’s approach is not just a “poetic strategy but a way of life”. Writes Chetana: “..A Thai lady of breeding is traditionally schooled in this difficult art of pudeur whereby she shall not externalize her innermost sentiments in explicit form…”
On the White Empty Page is the poet’s first published collection. The pieces have been written at various times without much thought of having them published although several (“Jealousy”, “My Time”, “A Dream”) were published in the Bangkok Post previously.
The title, according to the author, is derived from those many pieces of blank paper she used to keep ostensibly for jotting down the subtlety of thoughts and ideas. Poets do this sort of thing, don’t they? But what for?: “…Something would not rest something that is a part of man would not bear the whiteness of the empty page but would fill the blankness with something of man” Thus, the poet versifies her answer.
Khunying Chamnongsri does much, much more than fill in the white empty pages. Each page runneth over with an essence of life about which she of the philosophises although not in explicit form. Poems such as “The Beckoning” in which she draws a vivid parallel between “warm wild princess dresses in gems and gold aches in her scented garden…” and “warm wild wood be gemmed with butterflies abandoning its soul to the sun..” Or in a prose tale entitled “Raindrop and Lotus Leaf”, which allows the poet greater freedom of exploration.
The real charm of Khunying Chamnongsri’s poetry lies also in its intensity which touches a reader’s soul. In “River Kalong”, the account of the passion-torn king, who left his kingdom and wife in search of beautiful twin princesses, and who asks the river to predict his fate, is a classic example. The poem, says the author, is based on an old Thai legend. It definitely is one of the most moving and beautiful pieces in the collection. The interplay of words here is especially striking – from “swirl, silent river circle, quite Kalong…”, to “swirl, passion circle, desire…”
Even the Robot Building on Sathorn Road does not escape her keen mind. It is indeed included amongst things that are seen in every-day life whose commonly unseen aspects are often overlooked. The poem is composed not without a sense of sarcasm and humour:
“…To me you give
your private views
Of birds giggling on the
rooftops
secret thoughts
About cracks and puddles on
the sidewalks
Our dialogue thrives on your
being tall
And me being so very short”
For poetry lovers, On the White Empty Page is a must. The Thai world of poetry should be thankful for this wonderful addition. The volume marks another step forward in poetry presentation as it’s tastefully designed. The poems and prose tales are interspersed with blank, white pages, each signed with the author’s initials. Khunying Chamnongsri’s “Thai-ness” shines through a foreign language, her Thai femininity stands fast regardless of current fashionable, imported thoughts. Read “My Countrywomen” on Page 79 and understand.
From: Bangkok Post,Sunday 28 August, 1988