An American poet tries to penetrate the mystery of people's hope in the aftermath of genocide
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"Cambodia in the Twenty-First Century"
I go to the fishing shacks at the boatyard to taste fresh fish, and buy prawns from the gulf. When I arrive, riel in hand, I hear a TV. No fish here. No fish anywhere. In every shack, a TV where the fish are supposed to be.
-- by Catherine Strisik in Thousand Cricket Song
By Nancye Tuttle
Longtime writer Catherine Strisik realized she had a flair for poetry in 1991. But it wasn't until 13 years later, on a trip to Cambodia, that Strisik discovered her true purpose for writing free verse.
"I always have notebooks and pencils, but on that trip I didn't write anything while there," she recalled by phone.
"My senses were on overload -- the colors, smells, scents in the air and those beautiful, kind people. I had so many images in my head -- I'd see blood washing up on the shore."
The result is her new book of poetry Thousand Cricket Song, published in February by Plain View Press.
It gives a glimpse, through Strisik's eyes, into Cambodian life 25 years after the Khmer Rouge slaughter of 1.7 million Cambodians through execution, disease and starvation.
Strisik visits Lowell's Barnes and Noble bookstore on Saturday, July 31, at 2 p.m. for a book signing.
While she's lived in Taos, N.M., for many years, Strisik looks forward to coming to Lowell, where so many Cambodians now live. Her early roots are here, too.
Her maternal grandparents Andrew and Harilklea Vargas Samaras immigrated to Lowell from Greece as children, worked in the mills and married when he was 19 and she was 15 in one of Lowell's Greek Orthodox churches.
"They were very influential in my life and are buried in a cemetery in Groveland," said Strisik, who was born in Haverhill and grew up in Rockport.
Strisik made her life-changing visit to Cambodia in 2004 with her physician-husband, Larry Schreiber, and their 10-year-old daughter, Dimitri.
They went on the journey so Schreiber could reunite with Ouk Domry, a young survivor of the genocide. Domry had wandered into a refugee camp on the Thai/Cambodian border where Schreiber was an American Red Cross physician 25 years ago.
"They became friendly, and Larry made Ouk his assistant, a barefoot doctor," Strisik said. "Larry came back to the U.S. three months later and heard the camp was bombed. He wondered what had happened to Ouk."
Years later, Strisik and Schreiber's friend, who was visiting Cambodia, showed Domry's name to someone there and they learned he was now a vice president of the Cambodian Red Cross. Schreiber knew he had to see him.
"When we arrived, Ouk greeted us with his entourage of people -- his family and his bodyguards, since Ouk has such a high position," Strisik said.
"Larry and Ouk were overcome by emotion."
The family visited cities, villages and the historic Angkor Wat Temple -- and the eye-opening trip included visits to Tuol Sleng, the prison where so many Cambodians died.
Strisik became intrigued and obsessed with Cambodia, especially the survival of the human spirit the people exhibited after years of humiliation, fear and torture.
"The people were happy and I was confused by it," she said.
Some poems, like "Body Guard" and "Fifteen-Year-Old Khmer Rouge Soldier," are disturbing in their graphic images. Others, like "Pirogue Races," show hope and healing. Many focus on women and childbirth.
"That's one thread that runs through it," she said. "Another is the flow of water, since the Mekong and other rivers are important to the lives of the Cambodian people. By the end of the book, I hope to convey the new generation of hope springing up. It seems the country is slowly healing but it remains corrupt."
It took her four years to complete the book, with time spent at writers' conferences, including the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vt., and the Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference in Colrain.
The book is earning critical praise.
"Here is a perfect, clean and delicate (powerful and often terrifying) work of art," said John Nichols, author of The Milagro Beanfield War
"As a Cambodian myself, I am moved by Strisik's empathy and understanding," said U Sam Oeur, author of Sacred Vows and Crossing Three Wildernesses. "At the same time, I have a sense that I am looking back at her journey through the window of reality, recognizing her as a compatriot and companion in our journey together."
Strisik's visit to Lowell, with its large Cambodian population, is one she's looking forward to.
"I can't wait to get there and meet with the people," she said.
It will, she is sure, add to her love of these "kind, beautiful" people and enhance her view of hope rising from despair in Cambodia.
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