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Can poetry save the world?

Swimming Pool of Imagination

Tom Van de Voorde

Imagination and vitality go hand in hand in ‘Swimming Pool of Imagination’. Tom Van de Voorde’s poems are oases filled with fantasies and sketches for a future we can create, a world in which we can laugh carefree in the sun.

 ‘Swimming Pool of Imagination’ is Tom Van de Voorde’s third collection. The poems explicitly reflect the current political and societal issues. For example, the poet records the fate of boat refugees. But just like everyone else, the narrator is more of a bystander along the quay than a helping hand. He is nothing more than an engaged spectator of ‘military fear’. We might heroically resolve to get involved in the world around us, but to what extent do we succeed?

Is poetry like this enough to end war on the Gaza strip? No. But it is more elegant than the politics, diplomacy, economics, religions and the media, which are just as impotent
MO* Magazine

All too often, that commitment falls at the first hurdle, in the comfort of familiar surroundings, and the laziness these breed. For Van de Voorde, this idea is the language that rhythmically and musically informs the beautiful aesthetics of this collection. His worldview will not be unfamiliar: even those that do not want to test how poems can change the world sometimes have trouble turning words into actions.

You cannot force imagination, and there is no manual for the wings of poetry. Van de Voorde’s flying skills deserve a huge audience
De Groene Amsterdammer
It’s precisely that curious mix of meticulous virtuosity and unbridled levity that makes these poems work
Svenska Dagbladet