Review: That I Would Dream About It by Eeva Maria al-Khazaali

 

Eeva Maria al-Khazaali's second publication, Että Näkisin Siitä Unia (That I Would Dream About It), is a unique collection of gripping poems. Stylistically alternating, That I Would Dream About It ranges from concise and witty epigrams & haiku of female experience to more gushing & anaphoric verses, such as Uni (Dream). The alternating styles of writing keeps the reader on their toes, and each piece of work makes the reader stop, think, re-read and think again. 

Image source: Isabel Andersson @isabelsson

Eeva Maria al-Khazaali Instagram @iameevamaria

Buy your copy of That I Would Dream About It here.

Eeva Maria al-Khazaali is a writer based in Northern Finland - in Oulu, to be precise. Alongside poetry work, al-Khazaali has written for a variety of magazines in both Finnish and English, hence That I Would Dream About It has been published in those two languages, making Finnish art available to readers who haven't tackled our beautiful language just yet! At the moment al-Khazaali is working on her full-lenght film, I Want You, which is extremely exciting, mainly because al-Khazaali is deeply fascinated by the idea of women writing history (amen!).

Al-Khazaali's second poetry collection, That I Would Dream About It, is an original, grasping compilation of works that look at the human (female) experience through phenomenology. Many of the works gives a small glimpse, or rather, share a story, through bodily notations and sensations, such as Red lipstick smears over lips & A small bird is breathing on my scapula. My knowledge of poetry is not as wide as I would like it to be, therefore my review is based on my feeling of Eeva Maria's work. The overruling feeling of the collection is that it's raw, smooth, rule-breaking and beautiful - all at the same time. The smallest poem can seize you with its imagery; then you laugh with it; then you sober up to its, in search of a better word, seriousness: 

Haluaisin potkia

taivaan tähtiä

EN //

I would like to

kick the stars of the sky.

Yet, on the other hand, some of the works are captivating in their 'rönsyileväisyys' - meaning, in their wantonness - but at the same time those works are dense, like Uni / Dream:

Näen kuinka sanani mitta

on raskas, sen pulssi hidas

kuin kuoleva lintu ajotiellä,

jota ei henno katsoa,

sulat veressä ja rintalasta auki:

sydän vavahtelee vielä viimeisiään

ja silmät mykistyvät,

putoavat lauseisiin, joita korjaan

kuin vanhaa vaatetta, pistän 

neulan kuin kirjaimen.

Minun sydämeni on olemassa

tätä varten.

EN //

I see how the form of my words

is heavy, its pulse is slow

as a dying bird on the road

that I don't dare to watch,

the wings in blood and my chest open:

the heart still beats on its last

and the eyes are muted,

drop in the verses that I fix

as old clothes, I sting

the needle as a font.

My heart exists

for this.

That I Would Dream About It is a collection of poems I will re-read many times. There is a poem for every day, for every feeling, every thought and for any person who would like to understand someone else's feelings. It's a glimpse to the author's personal life, her inmost thoughts. I have no doubts al-Khazaali will become very well known in Finland, as her way of using our beautiful native tongue is extraordinary, and in all honesty - makes me proud of our language. 

I am looking forward to her next poetry collection!