Rustaq - Martin Dolan

Poetul irlandez Martin Dolan, de a carui prietenie m-am invrednicit, se rosteste colocvial in marginea unor intalniri ale caror reverberatii se prelungesc, sfidand timpul, in subconstient. Parca-l vad marindu-si ochii si fixandu-si lectorul virtual piezis. El prefera sa inregistreze lucrurile aparent neutru, fara participare, lasandu-le sa vorbeasca prin ele insele. Arta lui consta in priceperea de a surprinde dialogul mut, parcimonios, al detaliilor de viata cotidiana; nu de putine ori inspiratia lui e provocata de lecturile sale. Desigur, avand o perceptie acuta a relativului, el se rosteste mai mult pentru sine; spaime, angoase, nelinisti, amintiri scufundate, reflectii morale ale unui sceptic nemantuit se insinueaza in poem. Lipsit de iluzii, chiar usor dezabuzat, un acut sentiment al vacuitatii il stapaneste, fara sa atenueze catusi de putin o anume incrancenare a viului de a razbi mizand pe specificitate si pe comprimatul de energie care poate declansa oricand o explozie de vitalitate in fiecare.
O poezie intensa, subtila, rascolitoare... - Mircea Petean 

In this volume, the Irish poet Martin Dolan, comments in a colloquial key on encounters whose reverberations are long prolonged, defying time, in the unconscious. It is easy to imagine him goggling his eyes and gazing sideways at his virtual reader, yet he prefers to record things in an apparently neutral way, with little participation, instead allowing them to speak through themselves. His art consists in his skill of capturing the mute, the parsimonious dialogue of details in everyday life; not seldom is his inspiration triggered by his readings. Certainly, endowed with an acute perception of the relative, he speaks as much to himself as to others: fears, anguishes, restlessness, sunken memories, questions concerning poetry, these are the reflections of an un-absolved skeptic finding their way into the poems. Devoid of illusions, even lightly annoyed, he is mastered by an acute feeling of the void, yet he does not diminish at all a certain strife inherent in life to come through; he is gambling on the specificity and the compressed energy that can trigger at any time an explosion of vitality in each of us.
This is intense, subtle, stirring poetry... - Mircea Petean