Dili, 28 February 2007
-I HAVE FOUND A POETIC POND WHICH IS CRYSTAL-CLEAR-
(SHORT REMARKS FOR THE LAUNCHING OF TOZÉ’S BOOK, “TIMOR: AS RUGAS DA BELEZA” AT FUNDAÇÃO ORIENTE, ON MARCH 5, 2007)
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a big honor for me to be here today with you all to present to you the book of my great Portuguese literary friend, Antonio José Borges alias Tozé, entitled “Timor: As Rugas da Beleza”.
For me personally, presenting a literary book such as this one during my literary career for all these years is the first act. It is a great emotional moment for me. I am grateful for Tozé, my dear friend in having me here.
The things which I would like very much to say about the book and its author himself have been written in its preface. You can have a look at it when you read it. However, please allow me, for the sake of launching the book today, to cite some of the words which I have written:
“As a writer, in this case as an essayist, Tozé has tried, through his book, to tell us his physical and metaphysical trips. He does not hesitate at all to invite us to do the trip with him; diving profoundly in Timor-Leste’s ocean of reality.
“He managed to take the first steps to penetrate the imaginary world of “Avo Crocodilo”. With his words, Tozé presented himself as a traveler, photographer and poetic painter. As a Timorese who likes to play in the literary world, when reading these personal essays of Tozé, I feel like I have found a poetic pond which is crystal-clear. And I did not hesitate to jump into it, and swim as I wished. And I felt refreshed.”
If I am not mistaken, Alfred Edward Housman, the English poet has once said about poetry. Poetry, he said, “is not what to say but how to say about things” (my own paraphrase). I consider these personal essays as narrative poems. Tozé has written them with his own unique style. Timor-Leste is the subject for his poetry. We all, as I believe, are poets from within. We can write about Timor-Leste with our own style, can’t we? As a photographer, Tozé has chosen Timor-Leste as one of his objects to take. As readers, we can be photographers as well as he was. We, I am sure, can take the photos of Timor-Leste from different angle, and with our own style, can’t we?
Let us take a look at some parts of one of Tozé photo by reading the following passage about his trip to Mount Ramelau (page 67-68):
“…No Alto do Monte Ramelu……..e vermelho por dentro……….
“……Até um proximo sorriso, Tata mai lau… ”
Up to know, I have not been to Mount Ramelau myself. I have wanted very much to be on its top someday. [But, I am not sure when it will be. Every time some of my friends, when telling me their stories after climbing Mount Ramelau made me very jealous of what they have done.]
This short remark is a dialogue which I am having with you all this afternoon, especially with the author himself, isn’t it? To conclude this, let me share with you a poem I wrote about Mount Ramelau a few years back when I was in Canada wandering around as a ‘ cultural vagabond’ with the status of a political refugee:
I SAM MY OWN REFLECTION
Ramelau,
I came over to your transparent pond
At is edge I saw my own reflection
naked
welcoming me
then it told me
the winding stories about the roots of my seeds
****
-I HAVE FOUND A POETIC POND WHICH IS CRYSTAL-CLEAR-
(SHORT REMARKS FOR THE LAUNCHING OF TOZÉ’S BOOK, “TIMOR: AS RUGAS DA BELEZA” AT FUNDAÇÃO ORIENTE, ON MARCH 5, 2007)
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a big honor for me to be here today with you all to present to you the book of my great Portuguese literary friend, Antonio José Borges alias Tozé, entitled “Timor: As Rugas da Beleza”.
For me personally, presenting a literary book such as this one during my literary career for all these years is the first act. It is a great emotional moment for me. I am grateful for Tozé, my dear friend in having me here.
The things which I would like very much to say about the book and its author himself have been written in its preface. You can have a look at it when you read it. However, please allow me, for the sake of launching the book today, to cite some of the words which I have written:
“As a writer, in this case as an essayist, Tozé has tried, through his book, to tell us his physical and metaphysical trips. He does not hesitate at all to invite us to do the trip with him; diving profoundly in Timor-Leste’s ocean of reality.
“He managed to take the first steps to penetrate the imaginary world of “Avo Crocodilo”. With his words, Tozé presented himself as a traveler, photographer and poetic painter. As a Timorese who likes to play in the literary world, when reading these personal essays of Tozé, I feel like I have found a poetic pond which is crystal-clear. And I did not hesitate to jump into it, and swim as I wished. And I felt refreshed.”
If I am not mistaken, Alfred Edward Housman, the English poet has once said about poetry. Poetry, he said, “is not what to say but how to say about things” (my own paraphrase). I consider these personal essays as narrative poems. Tozé has written them with his own unique style. Timor-Leste is the subject for his poetry. We all, as I believe, are poets from within. We can write about Timor-Leste with our own style, can’t we? As a photographer, Tozé has chosen Timor-Leste as one of his objects to take. As readers, we can be photographers as well as he was. We, I am sure, can take the photos of Timor-Leste from different angle, and with our own style, can’t we?
Let us take a look at some parts of one of Tozé photo by reading the following passage about his trip to Mount Ramelau (page 67-68):
“…No Alto do Monte Ramelu……..e vermelho por dentro……….
“……Até um proximo sorriso, Tata mai lau… ”
Up to know, I have not been to Mount Ramelau myself. I have wanted very much to be on its top someday. [But, I am not sure when it will be. Every time some of my friends, when telling me their stories after climbing Mount Ramelau made me very jealous of what they have done.]
This short remark is a dialogue which I am having with you all this afternoon, especially with the author himself, isn’t it? To conclude this, let me share with you a poem I wrote about Mount Ramelau a few years back when I was in Canada wandering around as a ‘ cultural vagabond’ with the status of a political refugee:
I SAM MY OWN REFLECTION
Ramelau,
I came over to your transparent pond
At is edge I saw my own reflection
naked
welcoming me
then it told me
the winding stories about the roots of my seeds
****
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