Though I have become more enamored of poetry as of late, it is rare that I read a book of poetry cover to cover, preferring instead to sample bits and pieces of verse as time and attention allow. Dhaka Dust is an exception to that. Dilruba Ahmed is an American-born Bangladeshi woman; Dhaka Dust, winner of the 2010 Bakeless Prize for Poetry, is her first full-length book of lyrical and narrative poems--and it is completely engaging and worthy of full focus.
The poems are remarkably clear in purpose, yet both rich and textured in content and voice. Ahmed's work interweaves a grounded Stateside presence with the ghosts of her cultural homeland, all under the influence of a personal, yet holistic, sense of place and language. The image of dust recurs throughout the book, but is not a limiting theme; in her poems, it can remind us of the absolute dirtiness of life, the taste of a finely powdered spice or the particular haziness of memory. The subject matter is varied, keenly observed and originally handled. Ahmed's poems that include family recollections are particularly striking:
my heels caked with dirt, collecting
a wildness. But my cousins' laughter
is milky, sweet, and rich, a gift
I can't refuse--like their cha--nor drink
completely.
Dhaka Dust will garner much praise and attention, especially since it is the first book of a poet you'll want to watch. --Roni K. Devlin, owner of Literary Life Bookstore & More