Saturday, November 23, 2013

POET'S GARDEN (2013) by Spiros K. Karamountzos

Keeping a blog like this has its advantages and satisfactions. It keeps me linked to many of my writer and poet friends not only in Malta but also abroad. I keep in touch with poets from Italy, Romania, Greece, India and Bosnia-Herzegovina, to mention some of them.

Some weeks ago I received a poetry collection from Greece named POET'S GARDEN directly from its author and poet, Spiros K. Karamountzos. It is a collection of 82 concise poems - many of them taken from his collection DEWDROPS of 2006 - together with the poem Poet's Garden taken from his collection SUNFLOWERS of 2010.

Zacharoula Gaitanaki has translated Karamountzos's poems from Greek to English and Dr. Jasvinder Singh and Dr. Shujaat Hussain (both from India) have written two critical studies, "Succinct and thought provoking poems" and  "Love Blooms in Poet's Garden of Spiros Karamountzos", respectively. Zacharoula has also written the Preface entitled, "When poetry becomes a beautiful garden open to all the people.."

Zacharoula writes that Karamountzos's poetry "is pervaded by love for the nature, people and life." She also mentions the "harmony of colours in nature" that calms us, "a wealth of words, feelings, memories and pictures [that] gains our estimation." As regards to Karamountzos's concise style Zacharoula writes: "The poet has enclosed in a few or more verses, all 'the light of words', a heartbeat, the blossoming of hope, love's words, the morning dewdrops, a double joy, an intellectual inquiry, a smile, the past and the present..." 

Dr. Jasvinder Singh writes so: "Mr. Spiros K. Karamountzos has put in all concerted efforts to endear himself through messages in his poetry on love - its nuances and its different vibes to enchant life and the very purpose of existence in this mortal world." Later on he writes that, "in these poems the poet has remarkably visualized his precision about love, beauty and universal troth in life to opportune the reader to admire the poet with an extraordinary veneration and love for him." 

Dr. Shujaat Hussain writes that POET'S GARDEN "reflects flow of Spiros thoughts knitted with the element of love, raises voice against cage and prison; a kind of feeling that turns into light wrapped into the rays of love and spreads its strong wing on the pages and attains eternity." Hussain reconfirms that Karamountzos's poetry - as does real poetry in general - "provides heavenly delight and comfort, cozy warmth to souls, soothes the minds and a medium to relieve the hearts from all sort of qualms." Hussain describes Karamountzos's style as sweet and simple, perfect, honest and without disguise. 

Spiros K. Karamountzos was born in Karya, a village in Argolida. He taught as an elementary teacher but today is retired. Some of his books are: WORDS OF KARYA with memories of his village; KNOWLEDGE LEND WINGS TO INSPIRATION (2011), where the poet is interviewed by Zacharouls Gaitanaki; and the poetry collections HALCYONS (2000), STROKES OF THE BOW (2004), DEWDROPS (2006), SHEDDING OF LEAVES (2006), SUNFLOWERS (2010) and LOOKING FOR A POET (2013).

From POET'S GARDEN:

The Poet

Now, that you planted on the earth
seeds with your name,
Poet, what else do you want?
Reflect on the harvest time.
***

Gypsy heart,
when you are in love,
you live and in a gypsies' tent.
***

Unchangeable
in saltiness of the open sea,
you will live for ever.
***

The stallion of poetry
gallops in the mind.
Unbridled.


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