Homeward Bound: Poems from Australia and India

Homeward Bound: Poems from Australia and India, ed. by Jaydeep Sarangi and Rob Harle (Cyberwit.net, 2015)The art of thinking anything about home can evoke a personal philosophy that is fully matured and delicate. This is clearly evident in the fourth book of an Australian-Indian poetry series published by Cyberwit. It also reflects the literary ties that Australia and India are developing. The concept of home is the thrust forward throughout the book, with multiple artistic delineations related to the present dwelling place, ancestral place, spiritual set-up, place with bitter sweet memories, one's native place or country, place of refuge, or the concept of home of the displaced ones.Eight Indian and eight Australian poets contribute four poems each. From these, there are five poems with the title 'Home'. Each has its own concept. For example, indigenous writer Ali Cobby Eckermann, in one poem, expresses doubt if our children today look under rocks and whether they would find home in 'dry river'; 'dead birds' beach fenced'; and 'dead fish on shore.'(18). Poet Bashabi Fraser talks of home with reference to pet animals forming a part of the family and being taken care of by mother and at the same time accounts for the wild and stray birds and animals returning home. Bibhu Padhi suggests that home is where we are today. We welcome strangers as relations and our home perched among our children's grudging smiles. B.O. Allen gives a sensually delicious thought of home and breathes with flowing cool breezes on hot days: 'flavours thoughts' (37). He seems to develop divinity and become a lover of nature by enjoying the company of birds, trees and herbs. Home is earth's luxury, a settling in the small room of her life. Nathaniel Buckland offers a concept of home that abounds the trees that murmur and groan remembering their long ago forests surrounded by the procreation of creatures. Vinita Agrawal beautifully says that home has no walls, no rooms, no furniture and no thresholds. It is built in the eyes 'erected by naked and hungry hearts' (118).In addition, five poems specifically give readers the associated rhetorical themes on the concept of home. In 'Homeward Bound', Rogers speaks of tide-washed pebbles shores as a memory. Confusing navigation of the temporal with 'intimations of immorality' (15) brings a sense that makes him 'homeward bound emotionally' (15). B.O. Allen's 'Leaving Home' talks of the poet's beautiful country. She remembers the sound of birds, which are dry and ancient but bear a friendly voice of freedom. In 'Home Coming', Gopal Lahiri speaks of how things negotiate; past, present and future exist all at once, turning layers of the time plane that occur in unison in his homecoming. Flowerbeds and fountains, old staircase drops, gossips and stories, empty rooms and the courtyard fill with layers of memories. Hamish Danks Brown, in 'Home is Herewith the Both of Us', focuses on how he and his partner have dwelt in delight wherever they are; moving on somewhere has never made them stay close. In 'Meditations on Home', Sunil Sharma speaks of free-mindedness as a socialist, which is in fact difficult to maintain.The poets have also attributed differently to earthly and human concepts like times or seasons, events, objects and experiences. For example, in 'A Funeral Song', Eckermann speaks of her turn as a singer in the funeral which happens to be a unique experience for her. In her poem 'Summer', she reflects on a summer storm that transforms and gathers birds in feather country dancing to the music of wood giving a natural sense of home. Her 'Time' speaks of how people have been watching home rituals being observed for generations and how old people perish making the family wait for the arrival of new voices.The poems of Bashabi Fraser, such as 'Our Bird Table', 'The Midnight Calls', and 'The Family Photograph', reflect on the reminiscences of home in different ways. …