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Dawn Drops - An Anthology of Poems

I was searching for Untamed Heart in Amazon and instead bumped into Dawn Drops. Was happily surprised to see that Mona had published a anthology of poems way back in 2001 (A Writers Workshop Redbird Book). Belated Congratulations.

Many of us write articles / poems - which are hidden in almost forgotten diaries, odd newspaper clippings, college magazines and folders/hard-drives. Mona has nice expression for such people - 'closet writers'. But she has broken out of that mould and has started putting her work 'out there' (to borrow another of her expressions). Untamed Heart is a full length fiction published by Tara in 2016, her work is also a part of a collection of short stories Love Across a Broken Map (http://theasianwriter.co.uk/2016/05/love-across-a-broken-map/) recently launched in London. To know more about her and her views, go to http://www.monadash.net or just google her up. Good work Mona, keep it up.

Coming back to Dawn Drops. It has about 50 refreshing poems, written probably over two decades, that straddle different facets and phases of a woman's life. The poems depict a variety of emotions and situations -  innocent childhood observing social mores, tentative sharing of perspectives, assertions of individuality, young aged hunger for romanticism, the fears and pangs of marriage, hunger/joys for emancipation, the anticipation of mother hood and coping with losses.

The poems, published almost in chronological order, not only give insights to the life and thoughts of the poet (unless the poems are entirely a figment of her imagination) but also clearly bring out the literary and philosophical evolution of the poet in course of time. The language and idioms subtly, yet distinctly get richer over the years (or the poems!).

What I liked about the poems, was clear style of writing which is distinctive of the poet. Most of the poems are in a narrative - with a imaginative interplay of perspectives and words.  A few poems towards the end of the book had greater intrigue, and were less of a narrative - like World Smells, Black Hair on a White Pillow, The Champagne Sunset Cruise. I also liked the innovative usage of comparative.  ('....the belief grows/Moulds itself like the clay gone hard..' - Prayers; or 'I too will be like all of them/Like a glass of water left outside/And the fungus growing...' - 10 years hence).

The amazon link is http://www.amazon.com/Dawn-drops-Writers-Workshop-redbird-book, but it is saying 'Currently unavailable. We don't know when of if this item will be back in stock.' Maybe I bought the last book in Amazon stock. I am sure, it will be re-stocked soon.

Thanks to amazon, I will be back soon with reviews of Untamed Heart and eState of the Devas  (https://www.amazon.com/eState-Devas-Sandip-Dash-ebook/dp/B01BRS0J7M/), a book written by Sandip Dash a classmate of mine. This is available in paperback and is also a part of Kindle Unlimited.






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