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Poems At My  Doorstep

Ajmer Rode

 

 Caitlin Press, Vancouver, 1990; Pages: 56

 

In these family poems there is a simplicity and genuine emotion not often found in Canadian poetry. 'Mustard Flowers'…illustrates the color, vividness, concreteness, and directness of Rode's imagery - Laurence Steven and Heather Arnett, Canadian Book Review Annual, 1992

To write good poetry in two languages is akin to mastering both piano and violin…. Poems like these (Mustard Flowers and Waiting for Rusty) express the universal human tragedy of literal 'dis-location' more powerfully than any well-meant politicized party-piece - John Moor; critic, freelance writer,  The Vancouver Sun

Rode represents the confusions of old age and the innocence of infancy; and he salutes the unity of life - George Woodcock; critic, prose writer, BC Bookworld

This collection clearly contains some of Ajmer Rode's finest poems to date. Gentle, unguent and emphatic, they paint a deft, memorable portrait of the Earth's family, with all its squabbles, joys and fears. Ajmer Rode is becoming a father in the best, most nurturing sense of the term, more interested in the search for understanding than in conquest - Andreas Schroeder , Critic, poet, fiction writer

The poetry in Poems At My Doorstep is honest, conscientious, and imaginative- definitely fresh in style and perception - Carolyn Zonalo;  poet, publisher

I find this an extremely interesting collection. Readily accessible, insightful and genuinely humane. Recommended for secondary school libraries - Patrick Dunn, Annual Literary Review

This reader is delighted to browse through these poems, some of which are gentle and vivid like winter pansies - Dr. Vidyut Aklujkar, U.B.C.; Quarterly Ankur.

Ajmer Rode's early meditative lyrics are experimentation on form and language, preparations for his more mature work which tends to longer lines and complex social issues, interspersed with fine lyrical passages - Diane McGifford, The Geography of Voice

Ajmer Rode's poems At My Doorstep are 'doorstep' poems in their explorations of places in which the domestic life of one culture meets the public life of another - Alexander M. Forbes, Canadian Literature #137, summer 1993

After reading your poem, Yellow Flowers, I went to a music concert where the musician was playing raga Bihag on Sarod. I sat and started listening to Yellow Flowers in raga Bihag - Amarjit Chandan, poet, essayist

                      

Opening of Poems At My Doorstep by                            Andy Schroeder, Ajmer Rode at a poetry

Vancouver Sath in Richmond, BC, 1990                            reading in Toronto Metro library, 1981 

 

 

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