Isobel Dixon. The Tempest Prognosticator. Umuzi, 2010. ISBN 978
1 41 52 0161 9.
Reviewer: Joan Hambidge
Isobel Dixon
published Weather Eye in 2001 and A Fold in the Map in 2007. Her new volume The
Tempest Prognosticator is indeed a virtuoso collection. The poem “Usury” came
second in the Ilkley Poetry Competition in 2007 judged by the poet laureate
Carol Ann Duffy. There are other commendable poems and nods from the
greats. J.M. Coetzee praises the sparse volume with exciting poems as “virtuoso”.
Dixon has published in South Africa and in The Paris Review, The Guardian and
several poems have appeared in anthologies.
The title refers
to the model invented by Dr George Merryweather invented in 1850, curator of
the Whitby museum. Twelve glass bottles set in a ring round a stand with a bell
encircled by twelve hammers. The hammer was attached to a bit of whalebone set
in the neck of one of the bottles. In each bottle was a leech, we are told in
the endnote, and when a storm approached, the leeches climbed up the necks of
the bottles. This action disturbed the whalebones and the bell started
ringing.
An apt epiphora
for these wonderful and enticing poems with a blend of urban legend, mythology,
literary references and science.
A toktokkie is
described as a "shined-up desert Fred Astaire // doing his African rendition //
of the old girl hunt ballet” (15). “The Inoppurtune Baboon” reveals a “sky blue
arse”(16). The motto by Henry James “Cats and monkeys; monkeys and cats; all
human life is there” carries a subtle Jamesian warning: show me, don’t tell me.
Dixon applies this dictum in her imagery.
In “Root verses” the speaker prays for “the peace of photosynthesis” in an awareness of the deep organic and Buddhist mystery of vegetables. In a humorous poem “You, Me and the Orang-utan” desire reflects a dream of Borneo. “A Beautifully Constructed Cocktail” (22) reflects on the poetry in the names of cocktails. “Astronomy Sonnetry” – in memory of Syd Barrett – is a whirlwind of references and a technical dance “for the lost son of Otter” (36). “Silking the Spider” (37), a personal favourite, is a homage to Louise Bourgeois the well-known French artist and on the delicate work of spiders.
In “Root verses” the speaker prays for “the peace of photosynthesis” in an awareness of the deep organic and Buddhist mystery of vegetables. In a humorous poem “You, Me and the Orang-utan” desire reflects a dream of Borneo. “A Beautifully Constructed Cocktail” (22) reflects on the poetry in the names of cocktails. “Astronomy Sonnetry” – in memory of Syd Barrett – is a whirlwind of references and a technical dance “for the lost son of Otter” (36). “Silking the Spider” (37), a personal favourite, is a homage to Louise Bourgeois the well-known French artist and on the delicate work of spiders.
A small but
potent poem is entitled “Paradox”(41):
There’s no
telling what
will make the
heart leap, frog-
like, landing
with a soggy plop.
Love startles,
makes a mockery
of us, and yet
we lie awake
at night and
croak and croak for it.
There are
intelligent feminist perspectives in “Contract” (47), “Housewifery” (50) and fascinating
renditions of King Kong and Psycho.
Ruth Padel in
The Poem and the Journey (2007) argues that there is no one secret to reading a
poem, but to think of it as a jouney. In Isobel Dixon’s volume one is
constantly reminded of the poem as a journey: references to other poems, other
continents and an interesting relationship between a South African poet living
in England sending her letters home: “The road // to home has yet not been made
straight” (62). “Postcard from the Colonies” (12) speaks of a “2 ½ reis”.
A blou
koggelmander as a mistranslation of salamander (52) reveals an interesting
grappling with words. A stoep after all is net a stoep, jy weet.
It is a most
commendable volume of poetry. Indeed a rich reward for the poetry reader.
valentine
sweet fallacy
the heart
this heaving
muscle glistens darkly
something like a
toad
[This review has
been published in Tonight before.]