Publications

Oct 27, 2022

When I started writing, or should I say when my poems started bursting out of me like rain from a restless, distended cloud, I didn't know where these lines were taking me. For some reason, and entirely uncharacteristically, perhaps because at some level, my analytical, sensible and coulda-shoulda ways had stopped feeding my soul, I gave in. I let the words appear on my screen and often on paper, at first for my husband's eyes only and slowly with a few trusted friends and finally on social media, which allows for such hubris. I thought that was it. Then came the virus, and because I found myself with time and space for "projects I couldn’t imagine indulging" I took all the poems and put them in a book: Arrivals and Departures: Journeys in Poems in 2020.

Found meaning & reviews

The result surprised me as did the unsolicited reviews. And just for that reason, that infinitesimally small contribution to creating meaning for someone I may not even know that well, that silly notion that my words were out in the world and that they were read and meant something to someone I couldn't otherwise reach, makes me ecstatically happy... Here’s some of what readers said:

I would not have thought this was from a first-time author. Each poem, each verse in a poem, and each word in a verse, is beautifully written. I would call out three of my favorites: "

Endless March": A poignant story of a mother who loses her child, and the poem ends with: "I did lose his future, but I still have his past.",

"late": Who among us has not had a deep sorrow "I wish I had called her when I had a chance?", and

"Owed": About violence against women in deeply patriarchal societies, so beautifully said.

Another thing: I read the book once, and I loved it. But then when I read it again, I found subtleties that I had missed. And I know that the next reading will reveal more. Just get the book, and get it for everyone else you know and love.

***

What a treasure trove of poems that make the reader partake in the poet's journey …To do justice to Reena's writing I have to re read these and savor each poem one at a time. A must read ! I have shared so many copies with friends too.

***

These excellent stories are recounted with poetry-- something that makes them lustrous and accessible…captures important moments of passage in a stunning work that delighted and intrigued me.

***