onebreathpoetry

Tag: #review

  • Book Review by Lakshmi Iyer

    Deeply touched at receiving dear Lakshmi’s review about my book. Sharing:

    Neena Singh’s ‘A Peacock’s Cry’ is the voice of haiku wrapped in seasons of eagerness, progress, loneliness and abundance. Each of them contribute their own taste and energy. Each of them have their own attributes… consistent, diligent and sufficient. I loved the way Neena di quietly summed up the whole book with equal importance to aesthetics and kigo. 

    The Foreword by Alan Summers is very technical and bridges the gap so well. He has a very unique way of explaining and projecting in the most simple way. He connects the techniques and guides through the poems.

    Dr. Pravat Kumar Padhy’s article on kigo is worth reading. His master’s stroke is the essence of the book penned with intelligent and measured words portraying the significance of kigo.

    Teji Sethi’s contribution to the cover page is a delight! It attracts the reader more and more into the mystery of haiku with its beautiful flow of wavy 3D lines…
    Though it’s depicting a peacock’s feather, for me it’s much more than that; 
    a calm soothing touch that is the need of the hour with most of us, the serendipity of an invocation prayer, the awakening at Brahma Muhurat that fills a person with ecstasy and bliss.

    Priti Aisola’s Gond art relates with the seasonal aspects as though conveying that “we are all connected—humans, animals, birds!”Whether it may be the deer, owl, peacock, egret, butterfly; each of them have their own little story to tell.

    No words to describe your poems and your contribution to the Haikai world around us. I always love reading your poems and they have brightened up the sky all the more with the stars!!
    – Lakshmi Iyer

  • Book Review by Rupa

    Grateful to dear Rupa for the excellent review of my book. Sharing:

    A Peacock’s Cry is a poetry collection marking the five seasons. Neena sings the reader through her poems skilfully linking each season to images and emotions closely related to it.

    The kigo ‘peacock’ suggests themes traditionally linked with the monsoons, joy, abundance, and rejuvenation:

    monsoon wedding
    on the bride’s hand
    a dancing peacock

    The koel is the perennial sweet harbinger of spring:

    morning prayer
    a koel’s song 
    in every room

    My days in Kuwait came alive with the summer beauty of an Arab landscape:

    desert sunset
    a camel caravan returns
    to silhouettes

    Perhaps the poet is coming to terms with her sense of mortality in:

    autumn . . .
    how easy it is 
    to let go

    Feelings of bygone times, memories of family and parents, tinged with nostalgia resonate in this winter poem:

    around my neck
    papa’s old muffler
    winter warmth

    I’m a die-hard fan of Priti Aisola’s illustrations. She has peppered Neena’s poetry with finely sketched Gond drawings. I wish she would come out with an alphabet book for children. Teji Sethi’s cover design syncs with the title ever so gently. 

    Do pick up this book and immerse yourself in the world of short-form haiku poetry. It makes for a good gift too. Thank you, Dear Neena, for signing mine! 

    – Rupa Anand, haiku poet