Sometimes I am caught between poetry and prose, like two
lovers I can’t decide between.
Prose says to me, let’s build something long and lasting.
Poetry takes me by the hand, and whispers,
come with me, let’s get lost for awhile.
Lang Leav came into my life with Love and Misadventure when a dear and now distant friend gifted me a copy of the book as a parting gift. She was someone I had great trust in when it came to books.
Then came along The Universe of Us which is by far my favorite collection of poems by the author. In Universe of Us we see Lang Leav cumulating the whole universe to the expression of the emotions. There came some advices, some sorrow and a lot of lost love. Sea of Strangers follows the same language as Universe and Us but it feels more mature.
Cover page
‘Sea of strangers’ itself is a sad title. I liked the cover that goes with it even though the color cobalt blue is not very appealing. There are words scattered around but what you notice is the sad girl on the cover. I would say purpose well achieved.
Content
There are people who want to live on the land and there are those who like to swim in the sea. There is another sort that likes to live on the seashore never to fully let the land suck them in and the sea to overpower them. This collection of poems are written for those who have lived through love and have survived as has the poet herself.
Love is not rosy. Lang Leav asks you to beware of the boy who has asked for your name. He is eventually going to break your heart.
If a boy asks you for your name, don’t give it to him. He will say it back to you in a voice like gravel and honey, and you will crave his hands all rough and sweet. But you’re not the kind of girl who builds her house from sticks; you are a fortress, stubborn and strong. Do not give away the keys to the kingdom to anyone less than a king.
Lang Leav talks about love. All kinds of love. Passionate and slowly consuming kind. She talks about loss. The sudden jerk and the one you cope up with even years after it has left you. And if you like the state of being in love she can also tell you something about contentment.
There was a time when I thought I wanted more. When I saw the sky as a soaring highway and the world as one big
carousel. But those yearnings have grown so distant, ebbed so far away from me, they feel as though they belong to
someone else. All I want now is a rainy day, a roaring fire, you and I talking about how quickly the time has gone.
The author lives by sea in a small house most of the poems have sea in common. There are people experiencing sea of emotions. There are those who imagine a life by the sea. There are those who hang around somewhere between sky and the sea in the vacuum of nothingness.
They say that those who live by the ocean are waiting for something. Someone must have decided long ago to put
me by the sea. To live each moment by the light of the stars.
There are some advices for the girls who are not respected in the relationship.
Leave him, let him go. Don’t be the crazy ex-girlfriend or the shoulder to cry on.
You’re more than just an ego boost,
a story he can tell someone he’s trying to impress. Just walk away with your head held high and don’t give him another
second of your time. I know you love him so much that every step is killing you.
But this is the moment you’ll always
look back on as the day you put yourself first. Go and make something beautiful of your life and I promise you, one day
you’ll forget he was ever there.
There is some advice for the girl you were ten years back.
See that turn just up ahead? That’s the place where love will meet you, with arms so warm it will melt away the winter in an instant. And then, it will be summer for a very long time.
Each poem by Lang Leav fuses sea as nature and power with the emotions and so well that each poem resonates with you.
The collections seems very similar to ‘The Universe and Us’ but it is rather mature. Lang Leav goes one step ahead and tell you what wiring means to her.
Here are some snippets into what you may find inside. This collection is not to be missed!
Too Far In
I look for you, the way I was taught to look both ways when crossing the road.
Uptight and wary, bracing myself for
something I know could break me. I loved you, in the way I’d only known love.
Before I learned to hold back. When I thought everyone loved with their eyes closed and hearts wide open.
After you, I learned to lock my doors at night, pull the curtain shut. Be wary of strangers with taut arms and sad
eyes. Who want to spill their secrets to you like the ocean, who pull back once you find yourself too far in.
I miss you, like a drowsy child begging for sleep; like a bird who almost made it to the sun. I ache for you like the searing
memory of flight.
Borrowed Love
Kiss him if you want to;
you are treading on
sacred ground.
Anywhere you go,
I have already been.
And when you put your body
next to his,
you’ll find the places
I mapped out long before
he knew you.
And when he calls your name,
know I was the one
who put up those walls.
You should know by now
that you cannot build
cities on cities.
Kiss him if you want to;
But keep this in mind—
you are a tourist here.
I was his first love
and I’ll be his last.
Every Feeling
There was a time when I felt everything there was to feel with you. From blinding rage to bitter jealousy; searing
love to utter despair. And then, the worst one of all—sweet, irrational hope—like a hypnotic melody leading me to the
edge of a cliff. Here I am on the other side, the baptism of every human emotion. What happens after you feel everything there is to feel? Somehow, there is a sense
of comfort in knowing nothing will ever hit me quite as hard again. Nothing will ever be as beautiful, but neither will anything hurt as much.
Language
The language is crisp and to the point. Some beautiful strung together. Just beautiful.
Good points
I like the cover page. It has melancholic vibe to it. There is a lot of sadness on the cover. The poetry and prose inside draws all you attention and holds it till the end. You will not be able to drop the book before you finish it.
Bad points
Some poems are better than the rest as is the case with most of the collection. I wish I had read more about juvenile kind of love, that has not been shattered yet. This particular collection came out to be too mature for my taste.
Overall
As is the case with all of Lang Leav’s poetry, this collection is beautiful too. I am glad I got around to reading it sooner than later.
Whom do I recommend this to
This collection is for those who love to read a series of beautiful words that make sense and linger. Lang Leav has blessing when it comes to writing. It should be appreciated by all those who respect good writing.
Go ahead, grab yourself a copy of Sea of Strangers and tell us what you think about the book! If you are a Kindle person, ensure to select the Kindle edition of the book.
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The frontlit, high-resolution Kindle Paperwhite seems to be the officially preferred Kindle at Meraki Post; Veena, Gazala and Ram have one each. And while Pooja may claim she is more of the “Love the new book smell” kind of person, she may be secretly deciding between the premium Kindle Oasis and the simple and efficient Good Ol’ Kindle.
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