Publication: 15 May 2023
ISBN: 978-1-915108-11-1
In this collection, Neetha Kunaratnam interrogates his experience of being Asian in a Caucasian context, and that of his children growing up with dual 'Cauc/asian’ heritage. There are poems here that consider the links between colonialism, plunder and ecological collapse, while others ponder the ethics of killing a mosquito or the status of a ‘B&Q Buddha’, all as attentive to the world’s minutiae as to the global challenges we face.
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(dead white men)
Who commodified the body, and ratified its currency,
ditching slavery when the profits stymied.
Who preached autonomy for the noblesse only,
with clean-ups and climbdowns rife in the colonies.
Who cautioned their daughters about eugenics,
but still desired the exotic, who sired secret bastards away
from sorry spouses, shunned the swarthy
progeny, and spurned the surrogate mothers.
Who drew borders with rulers, straight and crooked.
Who aspired to be sun-kissed but perplexed, turned grey.
Who morphed into matriarchs, squirming in bodices,
like mistresses of phallic philosophies.
Who’ve evolved into lords with jaundiced tans,
who covet silver spoons and bleach their teeth.
Who sip at cocktails, demanding punctual sunsets
and bucolic vistas cleansed of refugee tents.
Who delegate nurture to nannies, presence to pacifiers,
day-care to dummies, and sell their sperm for cash.
Whose henchmen serve as caddies,
manicuring lawns, muzzle-bound, smiles still intact.
Who lounge in the crisis of the overheating sun,
as sprinklers kiss their grass iridescent.
Who nuke the bindweed’s white flower trumpets,
as their tired, old tongues are devoured by wasps.
Who wind up the crowd until it heaves and breaks.
Who bristle in their graves, denouncing snowflakes.
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“A powerful and formally dextrous collection in which the climate emergency, the violence of borders, everyday family life and the political tumult of the past few years are held up to Neetha’s brilliant and incisive eye. A state-of-the-nation, or possibly state-of-the-world book!”—Andrew McMillan
“These poems are indignant, sometimes point-blank, dissilient – though never dishevelled. Neetha Kunaratnam writes mordantly about racism and ecological disaster: creativity abounds, and resilience too.” —Vidyan Ravinthiran
“In Cauc/asian, Neetha Kunaratnam intelligently dissects ‘this England of unkindness,’ exploring the relationship between the big calls and their impact on everyday lives. He holds up familial love against the bigotry of Brexit, care for a daughter against a world of masculine aggression. These formally and linguistically elegant, even playful poems, offer great emotional power, and have much to say about the future of our environment. Like the bird that fights its own reflection in one poem, the world this collection gives us is often at war with itself, but Kunaratnam’s wisdom offers us a path of love and care, to lead us through the chaos.” —Jonathan Edwards
