Review by Leonard Dabydeen
Pearls of Strawberry Moon
Monalisa Dash Dwibedy
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 275 KB
Print Length: 140 pages
Sold by: Amazon Asia-Pacific Holdings Private Limited
Language: English
ASIN: B086QDHJ29
₹ 0.00 (Kindle Unlimited) ₹ 62.00 to buy
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| Monalisa Dash Dwibedy |
Pearls Of Strawberry Moon: Poetry that touches
your inner being . Kindle Edition.
When the strawberry moon glows it
unfolds curiosity and enthusiasm …
Strawberry Moon is the full moon
in June. It is called "the moon that grants love come true”. The pearls
are the moments of life. You are holding a few pink pearls in your hand. Smile.
Celebrate. Cherish. ~ Monalisa Dash Dwibedy
This
book, Pearls Of Strawberry Moon, is
a relishing debut potpourri of English poems, set in an illuminating cornucopia
gemstone by bilingual poet, Monalisa
Dash Dwibedy. She also writes in Odia. The author’s 55 poems are bundles
wrapped in symbiosis with fragrances of the strawberry moon, sacrosanct in
granting love, and beautiful pearls that enhance exciting moments of life. In
140 pages the poems are composted to speak of multifaceted aspects of life –
Hippocrene of love, nature, loss, depression, travel, environment, and more.
These poems arrive from varied anthologies, including The Year of the Poet VI, Inner
Child Press; International (USA); ATUNIS (Albania); Different Truths (India);
Sillwords Press (USA); SIPAY (Seychelles); Poetry Leaves (UK) Muse India
(India), and many more. Some poems not previously published. The book is
independently Published by the Author.
In
the PROLOGUE, author Monalisa invites readers to immerse themselves in her “forest
of words”, imploring that they will see some of themselves in her poems. In the
PREFACE, Muhammad Shanazar, Poet, Critic and Translator, exudes on rich
plethora of exploding emotions and thoughts in author Monalisa’s poems. And in
the FOREWORD, Dr. Vishnu Pandya – Padma Shree and Chairman, Gujarat Sahitya
Academy (India), extends warm congratulations to Author Monalisa for unfolding
her debut book: Pearls of Strawberry
Moon. And in the last few pages of the book, Mr. Cijo Joseph Chennelil,
Poet, Critic, HOD (English), Kristu Jyoti College (India), expressed KIND WORDS
through a serenade of sweet atonement to embellish the author’s delightful
creativity in her poetry.
In
this book, Pearls of Strawberry Moon,
author Monalisa takes intricate, creative embrace of pearls reflecting“moments
of life” and parceled them into three sections: Life, Lament, and Miracle.
And in that marinated cordiality, each partition is espoused to the other in a
trickling, lingering connectivity to express her inner consciousness in a
yogic, philosophical attribute of knowing the world is ONE. There are no
CONTENTS pages; and her unorthodox, crafty, artistic poetic style reflects on
such authors as Rupi Kaur – author of milk and honey (2015), and the
sun and her flowers (2017); and Professor Indira Babbellapati – author
of From
the Biography of an Unknown Woman (2015), Nomadic Nights (2016), and Just for
once (2019).
Let’s
take a perusal in the book, Pearls of
Strawberry Moon, to see how the Moon speaks to Monalisa among the pearls of
her life. Section: Life (16 poems):
The Moon said
[prying at her curiosity]
Remember where you
came from
You are the
purpose of this universe
You suffer most when
You slip away from
your intention
Stray from your
core being or
Tell yourself untruths
about who you are
And
in her vintage poetic style, Monalisa responds with (first poem):
MY
LIFE IN TWO BLUE SUITCASES
When the distant
tracks call me
Opening their arms
I walk out of my
comfort zone
To embrace
re-dusted earth and blue skies
Time waits around
the corner
For me to return
As I bid goodbye to
my hurried pace of life
Staring far along
the open roads,
As long as the sun
looks upon me
I try not to look back
So many lives
Unlived
So many places
Unseen
Life does not pause
When I meet new faces
Exchange glances
Wonder in the
midst of
Choices made
Chances missed
And challenges met
Travelling a full
circle
Un-awakened and
unconscious life times
I wait infinitely long
The moment
consciousness dawns
The forever being,
the maker of the universe
Comes in search of me
Painted and blank
canvases I visit,
I am not bound to
any one place.
Travelling free as
a bird,
I measure my life
in two blue suitcases.
This
first poem brings to the core, shimmering enthusiasm and delight of life as
Monalisa listens to the “Strawberry Moon”. That she would “ …walk
out of my comfort zone” gives readers food for thought, to learn that
the author has a career as an IT Consultant, with poetic creativity brush
strokes on …
“Painted
and blank canvases I visit / I
am not bound to any one place.” In this contextual aplomb, she decides
to …
“…measure
my life in two blue suitcases.” Monalisa
comes from the city of Puri, in the state of Odisha, India. She now lives in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada .
And
in the flamboyance of her arrival with “two blue suitcases” in Canada, the
strawberry Moon echoes to Monalisa thus …
The Moon said
Scream at me
Let go of all your
tears
Gather your
original self
Feed your soul
with a song
Breeze through
life…
And
in unstoppable vehemence, with throb of life, Monalisa entertains us with such
poems as LOST AND FOUND, SOUL OF A FOREST, IN LOVE WITH LIFE, A BUTTERFLY, IN
PRESENCE OF THE MASTER, TO THE ATLANTIC, and more.
In
this poem …
IN PRESENCE OF THE MASTER
(see
stanza 2, lines 1-4)
He chants a prayer
Invokes the unseen
Invites to
transform
And transcend the
physical/…
the
author emboldens holistic and religious affirmation, as she strokes the poetic
canvas of life. The poem is dedicated to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudevji, a yogi of
highest order. Monalisa is inclined to follow practice of yoga.
In
the second section titled: LAMENT is
a bundle of 22 poems.
[to quilt the
author’s equanimity]
The Moon said
There will be some
nights when all you have is yourself and me.
I can’t explain
what you mean to me or where I’d be without you.
You and me can fall in love or
You and I can become one.
The choice is yours.
It’s as if Monalisa was atuned to the voice of
Rabindranath Tagore:
Come with quick
steps over the grass.
If your feet are
pale with the dew,
If your anklets
slacken,
If pearls drop out
of your chain,
Do not mind.
Come with quick
steps over the grass.
Reading her first Lament poem …
THE NEW IMMIGRANT
(first stanza)
Where are you
from? You ask
I am from the land of
Wealth and misery
The mystic range of
Himalayan mountains
Land of bomb
blasts, surgical strikes and sufferings
Land of love,
yoga, sun and devotion
I am from border
village of India and Pakistan/
Being new immigrant herself, from Puri, Odisha, India to
Toronto, Canada, Monalisa asks the question that strikes at the core of every
immigrant leaving home. And her answer in this vibrant, evocative first stanza
of THE NEW IMMIGRANT, leaves you spellbound. More so if you are an immigrant
yourself (or like myself). The depth of sensitivity is an indelible lament,
rich with imagery of home thoughts.; serenading the ambivalence of Life.
In the third stanza, Monalisa speaks of her arrival in
Canada, engaging readers to feel and share her sensibility…
This is a very new city, do you feel home?
You ask.
On the hillside in the bright daylight
I see the birds fly with same zeal in their flight
The garden near that lawn
I watch the new plants being born
The same way they are born on my land
When it rains here
Leaves shine.
In the last stanza (last two lines), Monalisa’s lament bursts with a
sigh…
Tulips in the spring and Camellia in winter
Suddenly felt like home.
As if this section – Lament – brings readers to pause and prune trailing poems with deep
emotions, here is a caviar that will thrust readers into the refreshing last
section: Miracle of which the MOON
speaks to Monalisa for comfort:
THE NEW IMMIGRANT in section Lament was selected as the winning
poem in the International Rabindranath
Tagore Award 2020, making Monalisa a crown jewel of poetry on the international
platform.
In the eyes of Jury Panel member for this award
competition, Avik Gangopadhyay, Kolkata, West
Bengal, India …
Congratulations Monalisa Dash Dwibedy. Your approach is different from
others, your achievement is truly commendable. Many dream, some try and only a
few achieve. You are an achiever today.
Other poems that ripple with emotive depth and sensuality in the
founding pearls of Monalisa’s Lament section
include, TWO LITTLE WORDS, BETTER FAR, SLAVE, TEARS, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME, YOU
ARE NOT ALONE, SHELTER, A LITTLE GIRL I DO NOT WANT TO BE BORN, LOST FRIENDS,
and more. Sometimes you can feel the emotions within your heart as in reading
this poem (speaking of the environment):
SAVE THE PLANET
(second stanza – lines 1-3)
Do we truly realize what trees do for us?
What the trees exhale, we inhale
Do we know, they are the basis of our breath…
And in a spate of
mind-set probity to wave a bruised stroke on her Temper canvas, the author
writes …
TRUTH HURTS
(third stanza)
We write poems on love, gender-equality
Forgiveness and hope
Do we ever listen truly?
The painful story of a shattered human being
People do not like, when truth hurts…
In SILENT DEATH, the author brings marginalization of women in
India to a new awareness (first stanza)
We were silent seven years ago
We were silent yesterday
We are silent, even today
Reeling emotions on atrocities of women like Nirbhaya and Priyanka Reddy
in the past decade.
In the last Temper poem, author Monalisa speaks to readers of our present
pandemic, as she writes…
CORONA
Remain still, let silence be your voice
Pray, be grateful for being alive.
In the final section, Miracles – 18 poems - author
Monalisa wipes the Temper tear drops, only to return as a sparkler. It’s as if,
in wiping the somber, Temper moments of Life…
The Moon said
With me, hearts do not shatter
They blossom…
And Kahlil Gibran stokes the author’s Kindle fire, saying …
Humanity is a river of light from the ex-eternity to eternity.
In the first poem titled:
A THOUSAND LOVE AFFAIRS
(stanza 4)
I love you if you’re toothless
I love you if you’re blind
anything that’s wrong with you
to me you’ll be fine/
This must be “miracle” from the Eternal, but there seems to be a smile
on the readers’ faces to speak of trust and faith. But the author gets her way,
as it were.
In the second poem:
WHAT YOU SEEK
(last stanza, lines 1-3)
How it feels
When the Universe sends signals to you
When the ether answers your prayers
Here is, indeed, the topping of the author’s Miracle, as the Moon
speaks:
The Moon said
Love your solitude
I’m always alone but not lonely for a moment…
And again..,
I know life isn’t always sunny and colorful, sometimes days get rainy
and so hard that they hurt. Sometimes you feel life is falling apart. Brave the
day. Settle down with me in the evening, let me kiss you. All I want is to be with
you.
Amidst the starlight strawberry Moon, a sparkling glow of Miracle poems
by Monalisa leaves you with impeccable bliss, to wit :
THE WORLD GOES BLIND
(last two lines)
Infuse a little grease of divinity and bliss
To rusty hearts of human beings.
FALL
(Stanza 3, lines 1-4 )
Life seeks us out
Alone and naked
Uninformed, unlearned
Yet others understand…
The urge to leaf through the poems in this book, rich in soft,
melodramatic tone, with metaphors layered in silver and gold, primed with
elegance of human metamorphoses in life, will unequivocally satiate your love
for enjoyable English literature. This book is a must read.
Leonard
Dabydeen (Ontario, Canada)
Published author, Member of the Law Society of Ontario (Retired). Poet, English Literature critic, Book Reviewer.
