The ordinary things portrayed with extraordinary enthusiasm and trying to delve into the mind of man through simple diction are the qualities I enjoyed when I read the poetry collection ‘SENSE OF ENIGMA’ by the poet Jacob Isaac. As mentioned by Prof Dr K V Dominic who has written the foreword of the book :”a sharp, concentrated mind is required to digest the full sense and beauty of the lines.” The comment of the Kapampangan Poet Renato B Alzadon ”How Jacob Isaac transforms images into reality and reality into images is quite remarkable” tells us the style of his writing. The words from the dedication of the book ”To God who ignites my insight and tracks my life way” declares us his philosophy of life.
There are twenty two poems in it. The illustrations accompanying the poems help us to delve deep into them. Media House Delhi published this book. ”Days and ways covered my eyes/Let me have my naked eyes!/” these verses in the poem LET ME HAVE MY NAKED EYES narrate the innocence of the childhood lost in the hypocrisy of the boasting society and this feeling gets more intense in the poem AMAZING RIDE ”Arguing for false ego/Tomorrow the endless emerge/Ignoring today for hypnotic tomorrow?/”. In the poem GRADING IMPACT he writes ‘my voice and noice;quite and disciplined/taming and timing;surprise surrounding/louder legacy/nodding rehearsal/tuning the lobby-labels amazing/pruning reception-impact amazing/look me my snubbing/social therapy/hooking the royal chances therapy.” These lines whisper to us that how the unnecessary rules and regulations of the modern society cripples down the purity and beauty of life.
The opening poem CONDITIONING OF FANTASY illustrates that we are compelled to condition even our imagination also for the day to day life according to the need and standard of the society. He writes,”…my contract for life and legacy/Away from ambiguous allergies of feelings!/There the mind, navigating and memorizing/the moment of living art.” The poem INDIFFERENCE tells us about one of the social evil that is apartheid ”How divided emotional drag?/How divided integral task?/The book of blackness/The door of openness/The lee of reinforcing word./” In the poem I AM,I CAN we enjoy the energy of optimism and the presence of the unseen force who must be with us if we are pure: ”Go around with respect fame/Mighty touch that pave on you /Word imaging need we have/Road diverting plan we have/”. As a breeze from the true depth of heart the verses from SENSE OF ENIGMA touch us with its literary wings and we feel a deep sense of beauty, of truth and love of humanity. The poet aspires for action, variety and adventure in life with optimism and he is not to yield. The philosophical reflections of the poet do not stand to lose the elegance of the verses in this poetry collection.
