Islands In The Stream. Poems by Sonal Singh  is truly a magnificent collection of exquisite gems. She says her poems are like islands in the stream of poetry representing nature, life, people and their emotions.

Her nature poems are rich in splendid imagery and brilliant vocabulary.

"The misty veil lifts revealing sunshine/ incandescent like spun gold,/ spilling its lambency ubiquitously."

Such beautiful lines! Pure gold indeed.

Night is " The sloe-eyed beauty/ coiling skeins of her raven locks,/ on hushed feet,/ stepped forward...."

Such sensuous lines, reminding us of Keats.

"Eos's Sojourn" is a masterpiece underlining the contrast between nature and the human world,

" Alas! Then humanity awakens/ Their capricious souls, steeped in avarice arouse from a slothful slumber".

"Dusk's Promiscuity" is a delightful poem reminding us of the metaphysical poets.

" Promiscuous that she is,/ she abandons the sunset at the dimmet/ to sigh into the arms of a clinquant, bejeweled night." Absolutely beautiful!

"What Are Days Like" is another lovely poem which makes the reader smile.

"Days are like mischievous children/ They are naughty and resist being put to bed at night"

Finally " To the tinkle of the wind chimes/ clinking like glass bangles/ They close their eyes and submit/ to the cadent melody of the night"

Such melodious lines.

"Breezes" are like amorous lovers and in "O' Sunshine", the speaker is an old person who tells sunshine to be her companion until she leaves the earthly plain because "This winter of my life is sapping me to the bone". The similes, metaphors and other poetic devices used in the poems are so wonderful.

Every poem in Nature's Rhapsody is gorgeous. I loved "Sunflowers", "The Rain" and "God's Boudoir". The last two poems in this section speak of the effect of the pandemic on nature.

In the second section Life's Foibles, all the poems are soul stirring and soul satisfying.

" We are but, islands in the stream/ floating in the waters of desire/ We are but two souls with a heart,/ smouldering with a hidden fire"

"An Ode To Life" speaks about the simple joys of life and the certainty of death that comes to all. Dreams and Hope are poems which speak for all of us.

"I Miss" is a heart warming, nostalgic poem about childhood memories.

" I miss

The flowers that grew aplenty/ in my mother's garden/the sweet peas, the dahlias,/ the roses and gladioli."

"Lost Nonage" is a lovely, lovely ode to the swiftly passing years of joyful immaturity.

"When I Am Gone" is a profound poem about death and transience of life.

" When I am gone, like the flames from my pyre/ and I am reduced to cinder and ash in the fire/ keep me in memory as a fond rememberance/ Memories may last, life has no permanence".

"When Roused From Slumber" describes the experience of every homemaker that has to get up early in the morning.

" Journeys are fragmented pieces of life./ They resonate with happiness" and sorrow too.

"Memories Of Childhood" is another nostalgic piece in which the heart yearns to go back to the the happy past but can't.

"Your Letter" is again a memento of the past " And then I remembered,/ You were all that was left of him, of us, of our life together."

"Freedom" is a wonderful song which describes the joyousness of freedom.

" Freedom is a robin, red breasted in all its glory/ It puffs up our elation, helps rewrite the story."

"The Threads Of Memory" is a beautiful tribute to the significance of memories in our life. Because without the threads of memory, life is meaningless.

" What would life be, if we had no memories?/ What would we feel if we woke up without a past?"

"Chords Of Pain" describes the pain of a street guitar player who plays on unmindful of the crowd around her.

" Such was the magic her fingers strummed on the chords;/ that people listened spellbound, there was no need for words."

"Remember" is a beautiful, romantic and nostalgic poem. Farewell is a tragic poem about a terrible accident.

Sonal Singh believes that poetry is the language of the soul, a deep emotion that spills out as verse. I certainly loved these spills of emotions that come from her heart and soul and the passionate flow of her poetic language. This is poetry you will want to experience again and again.

________________________

Buy the book here: