KAYE ALDENHOVEN
Review
Kaye Aldenhoven is a talented writer highly acclaimed for her perceptive recording of some powerfully poignant aspects of the human condition. Her latest published collection of writings Skin is another sensuous and insightful literary gem. Here Kaye takes us on more intimate journeys of discovery involving her own past and that of her closely personal life with the skin group of autochthones where also she belongs.
My mother's story included the grey monotony
of the munition factory,
...[and]
the insolent joy of young women
as they walked off the assembly line
when a naval boat docked at Port Adelaide
to see if their husbands and lovers were on it.
And the careful preparation before consummating contact with a lover:
To prepare for you
I scrub the soles of my feet
...
I smooth oil on my elbows, thighs and knees;
brushing oil from my palms
over my nipples so they'll stick to your fingers.
And of the lingering afterglow when: 'I could smell you in my hair all day.'
Between the covers of this gossamer word creation, lie emotively strong evocations of birth, childhood, language and Law and Culture. And too, of socially malfeasant manifestations of contemporary living, such as unwanted pregnancies, petrol sniffing, family violence and premature death.
A compelling reflective part of this elegant work is 'Words Packed in Salt: Poems about Remembering'. Here we make transient contact with an often murky past recalling, inter alia, impoverished times, disappointments, wartime exigencies, homes long gone, anguished losses, and the power of photography in recalling significant life and people.
Text,
spoken and written
is full of the meaning of gaps
and the silences that we choke back.
The spaces slip glibly between our lips
but the words catch in our throats
burning as we try to swallow-
words packed in salt.
Few writers manage to make such evocative impacts upon the reader with such short poetic vignettes.That Kaye Aldenhoven manages to do so repeatedly, is an on-going confirmation of her exceptional perceptive abilities and exquisite literary talents.
Skin is another fine literary treasure from this most talented author and is well worth adding to your personal bookshelf.
Reviewed by Allan Skertchly in
Write Turn, August, 2004