April 05 2015 – The words paint a telling and compelling image of the internal conflict between good and evil. It’s there in every syllable, every word, every line, every verse.
“And ahead of My teachings in the face of a leer, I recognised solace in the deer gaze of fear”
Pink Snowflakes, the debut e-book of Dominican Mario (Maz) JohnRose, takes you on an enthralling journey of depression, deception and the demons inside, and eventually from the enveloping darkness into everlasting light.
Pink Snowflakes – a series of poems – is a commentary on people and “the imprints we make on other people, on ourselves, and on the world around us,” says the young JohnRose.
We asked Mario about the e-book.
CNS: What is Pink Snowflakes about?
MJR: I started working on this collection of poems back in 2008. I had just experienced a rather abrupt move from Barbados to China shortly before my 18th birthday and my mind was a blur, experiencing new things on the other side of the world. In those first months in China it was indescribable, a vastly different way of life, a colourful mix of people, but somehow mentally I was still at home in the Caribbean. During my time I’ve travelled extensively around China and discovered that in spite of the many differences between people, or groups of people, we go through the same experiences, relationships and thought processes, no matter which nationality or social class you are. The poems are, thus, a commentary on people and the imprints we make on other people, on ourselves, and on the world around us.
CNS: What inspired you to write poetry?
MJR: I was inspired to write poetry when I was 13 years old back when I was in third form at Harrison College in Barbados. At the time I was writing mostly light-hearted and shallow stanzas. My English teacher at the time encouraged more meaningful writing from me, and during this time I also had a poetic bonding with one classmate, Dario Clarke, who I’ve dedicated this poetry collection to. Dario had a great role in influencing my writing through his own outputs of religious and spiritual odes and expressive lyrical diversity. The title, Pink Snowflakes is an excerpt from one of his poems about the dangers of reminiscing.
CNS: Why publish now?
MJR: On my return to China in 2012 after a year off in Barbados, I got the idea to publish this collection of poetry as a bookmark of my life up until that point. As you read Pink Snowflakes from front to back it begins with the matter of the balance of good and evil in oneself, moves on to the balance of the happy and sad in interpersonal relationships, through the acceptance that bad must exist with good, before concluding that, despite this knowledge, it is indeed good to try to be good. I felt that with the story that had been told through these poems being more or less complete, and in commencing my next poetry project, which is a social commentary of a different kind, it was the right time to look back on these poems with a common theme, and put my name down in the list of published Caribbean writers. Swedish-Chinese artist Sanja Särman was one of those I sent initial copies to, and it inspired a few works of art which I included in the final publication.
CNS: How challenging was it to publish your first book?
MJR: Nowadays with the advances in technology, publishing the book wasn’t as challenging as I anticipated. With more and more people doing their reading using computers and mobile technology, an eBook seemed to be the obvious first choice to send my work into the world. Of course a hard copy edition is planned, but meanwhile I hope to reach as many readers as possible all over the world using the internet. Having already passed Pink Snowflakes around to a variety of readers, I can say I’m fairly pleased with it, although I feel that my best work is yet to come.
CNS: What next can we expect from you?
MJR: Currently I’m working on a second poetry book, based on the country of China and its nature. I’m excited at the final output and I hope that it will also be a success. I’ve also started writing two novels. I’m meticulously working on them in the hope that I’ll achieve my dream of being the next great Caribbean author, and the greatest after Jean Rhys.
The Kindle version is available on www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk, with the pdf version available at https://payhip.com/b/9Ceq.
This is great….lovely reading and it’s a pleasing thing to see a young man stepping up…..all the best with your project and may God continue to direct your path.