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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 JUNE 2014 36 THIS WEEK Klessidra: Versi taz-Zmien Mahrub (The Hourglass: Verses of Fleeting Time) is an engaging kaleidoscope of reflective, descriptive, and narrative poems written by Lillian Sciberras along the span of almost forty years. The first section of Klessidra con- tains seven poems selected from Wara r-Repubblika: Versi (After the Republic: Verses) which Sciberras published with Mario Vella in 1979. The second section includes forty poems written between 1975 and 2013 and collected for the first time in book form. Klessidra has an in- troductory literary commentary by Adrian Grima. A number of the poems chosen from Wara r-Repubblika deplore different aspects of Maltese society and politics. In her opening poem, Iz-Zifna tal-Katavri (The Dance of the Corpses) Sciberras takes a femi- nist stance. She wistfully states that the Maltese Neolithic Period was vibrant with the life that flowed in the veins of our mothers, but that later our country experienced the long and oppressive sleep of death brought about by many centuries of foreign male rulers and male-run in- stitutions. My favourite poem in this first sec- tion is 'Story of a Rejected Man'. A man who was never sent to school learnt the skills of survival from na- ture and "in the solitude of years / alone, he discovered latent wisdom / in the pathways of his mind" (Sciber- ras's translation in Wara r-Repubbli- ka). The deep implication here is that intuition is more commendable than the type of learning imposed by our formal education. In its evocative imagery expressing the holistic hu- man bond with nature, the poem is a precursor of Sciberras's later lyrical verses. Many of the poems in section two of Klessidra speak about personal relationships and offer insights on humanity within the mysteries of nature and of time. As in Wara r- Repubblika, the poet still aspires to sow seeds of reflection and of posi- tive change. However, the tone in these poems is quieter and much less overtly critical and reminds me of her early soft-spoken, introspec- tive verses in Malta: The New Poetry (1971). Dr Sciberras is a former senior lec- turer in the Department of Library Information and Archive Sciences at the University of Malta and former Deputy Librarian at the University of Malta Library. In her poems, one can discern her librarian's eye for ob- servation and detail, leading her to create an animated and en- grossing atmosphere. The family poems provide significant points of reference to the "fleeting years" of the poet's life. Her par- ents and three sisters have passed away, and only one sister is alive to share the beautiful longstanding memo- ries of their tradition- al and strongly-knit Maltese family. These verses are very touch- ing, as she master- fully weaves personal situations and experi- ences with the larger metaphysical fabric of nature itself and with intimations of an af- terlife. A poem I found remarkably spiritual is 'Tifkira II' (Remem- brance II) dedicated to her father after he passed away. In the sacred silence of the University Church of Christ the King in London, the broken-hearted poet calmly feels that she can communi- cate with her father again and that a kind hand will always be there to reunite them. In Sciberras's verses, impressive and stirring images of nature abound as we meet the benign so- lidity of trees, the evoca- tive weather in different seasons, animals – wild and tame, stars both near and far, and most of all the inspiring sea in its various captivating moods. In the few love poems, the lovers are portrayed in syntony with the earth, sea, and sky. In this section of the book the tone is generally emotive but composed, at times grateful and serene, at others melancholic. Some poems show an oc- casional touch of humour. When her tone is critical and slightly reprimanding, it is mostly in relation to mankind's destruction of the natural environment. In 'Temp tat-Terremoti' (The Weather of Earth- quakes) she refers to the poi- sons we have thrown in the sea, and in 'Iltiema' (Orphans) she narrates the sad story of Benduwa from Naxx- ar who lost the last surviving field to the construction industry and had nowhere to graze her herd of goats. The reference to time's transience in the title of the book is indeed apt. The poems in section two focus on the span of the poet's life, and the opening verses from Wara r-Repubb- lika, in the first section of Klessidra, look back at the circa seven thousand years of the story of Malta. In the poem, 'Kantaliena tal-Anglu tal-Mewt' (Cantilena of the Angel of Death) the angel is depicted as a be- nevolent mother who will gently car- ry us in her arms from this life to the next. This winged bearer informs a woman that she will be guided with- out fear "where the rivers of cessation and renewal meet" ("fejn jiltaqghu / ix-xmajjar tal-mitmum u tat-tiġdid"). The woman is also prompted to ask the mirror of truth: "hares sew go fiha, / u staqsiha, / ghidilha taghtik hjiel, / sabiex hielsa minn kull xkiel / terga' mill-gdid fil-bidu / tat-triq li twassal / ghat-tmiem tat-tmiem". (Look at the mirror well, / and ques- tion it, / ask it to give you an indica- tion, / so that free from all shackles / you will be again in the beginning / of the road that leads / to the end of the end.) Other poems that look towards a future beyond death include, 'Tifkira' (Remembrance), 'Hekk Kif Inqum mill-Mewt' (As I Awake from Death) and 'Ghal Carmen Marida' (For Ail- ing Carmen). The hourglass is like the chrysalis that precedes another birth. Klessidra is a valuable contribution to contemporary Maltese literature. Written by a skilled and sensitive poet, it truly inspires the reader to reflect upon life, the natural envi- ronment, time, and timelessness. I look forward to Lillian Sciberras's next literary work. 'Klessidra: Versi taz-Zmien Mahrub' is published by Horizons, and is available in all bookshops maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 JUNE 2014 'Where the rivers of cessation and renewal meet' MARLENE SALIBA reviews 'Klessidra: Versi taz-Zmien Mahrub', a new poetry collection by Lillian Sciberras