BLAQ PEARL (JANINE VAN ROOY-OVERMEYER)

Watter kwaai boek! Ek salute die skrywer! Ń boek wat ek appreciate in my collection en weer sal lees.

With the onset of my reading the book I instantly felt the heart of the writer.

Throughout the book there are so many different themes and issues coming through, such as various forms of abuse, community, suicide, social ills and family relationships. I wish more people would read this book because there’s so much urgently needed honesty and reality being shared here.

I imagine the writer being a rebel at times yet just an ordinary person going through life’s stuff at other times.

Lynthia is bold, grof en unapologetic.

I am grateful for her sharing her poetry with us.

Now let’s break it down; as a poet, writer and cultural activist myself, I appreciate Lynthia Julius’ writing, her content, her style. I can relate to so much in these pages. I respect the writer so much. I think people who read this book will be inspired and informed.

I am intrigued by the titles of the poems that don’t immediately give me direct access to the content. So I realise while reading a few poems that I must accept that and just keep an open mind. Some of these titles are Halfnaatjie, Loslating, Luna, Vir Al Jarreau, Daai Sabbat to name a few.

The themes are thought provoking; like Lynthia’s views of religion as well as love and romantic relationships plus her lucid writing about sex.

There are so many different issues coming through that I was very overwhelmed at times. I realised it’s not a book I can or want to read in one go, but over time. I needed to take a break now and then because my emotions were shook up and deeply affected. I think this kind of poetry should be more accessible to our communities and people who also go through what Lynthia Julius goes through.

Issues such as rape, violence, racism, segregation, cycles of pain continuing through generations and loss can be found in titles such as Kleur kom tog alleen, Krismisboom, en Die vrouens in my familie.

Hierdie boek is vir enige iemand om te lees! I can be my intellectual and creative self while reading this book. I like Lynthia’s content, her emotions coming through when I read. I notice her style doesn’t conform to your “typical” or popular poetry. For example, in the poem Die huis, about a man, his body and Ma’t gesê about a woman, her body. I’m also referring to the way Lynthia Julius puts the words and poems all together and leaves out comma’s, full stops and exclamation marks. So I love her uniqueness and absolute freedom of expression.

I am also challenged with certain words that I had to read again and again to understand because of the different type of Afrikaans we speak and the demographics reflecting where we come from. Some words that stand out in this regard are

Aksynbetalers,
Sneeubruintjie,
neerhalings,
gravitasiekolke,
pram.

I must admit the word pram isn’t a word in my vocabulary and after reading it first without understanding the content of the poem I then figured it out but felt a bit silly. Of course I appreciate her language very much.

The use of Skuld in the poem, and the poem titled Ma’s ń huis is direct and not used as a metaphor. This also seems to be a trend in Lynthia’s poems.

While reading one can visualise the situations you read about. It’s so graphic and animated that you can imagine being there through the different poems and in a way experience the stories with the writer. Drie van die poems in particular that have this graphic quality are Beautiful in Kakamas, Die vrouens in my familie en Lisa. Naturally relate en love ek ook die poem titled Kroes:

ek was te kroes om ’n Kimberley Coloured te wees
te glad om opreg Khoi te wees
te gemeng om wit te wees

ek het uit die as opgestaan met my kroes hare, Mamma
sukkel-sukkel die krulnukke in my hare uitgekam
en met die loskomsels op die kam besef:

fok glad wees
laat sy ring maar in my hare verstrik raak
ek vee nie my geskiedenis uit my hare uit nie
kroes is kroes

In honour I want to say this: Lynthia jy is ń befokte (amazing) mens! Jou boek is kwaai! Kap an! Ek is bly ek kon jou meet somehow deur jou skrywery, jou gedigte, jou stories! Kei Gangans! Dankie!