In the Throat of Poppy by Jasleen Saini is a collection of epigrams and poems that touch on several themes such as love, humanity, life, kindness, truth, lies, feminism, and more. The diversity of themes is one thing that makes this book interesting.
The author has made use of crisp language and precise words to weave a poetic vibe. Some of the micro poetries were fascinating in their usage of metaphors and subtle hints. For instance — Begged love is a tongue, without taste buds. Not just this, each piece had a different quality — some were sweet, some were hard-hitting, some were free-flowing while others were stuck in a rhythmic structure. They portray the author’s acute observation and bring alive her interesting interpretations.
Some pieces highlight a human’s vicious thoughts as in — ‘my soul has scissors-like hands, waiting for velvety sins.’ And yet others are motivating — ‘we are walking on the bed of our crimson sacrifices. we will walk on the bed of our brunette boldness.’ Another delightful piece was — ‘What should I christen the millennium, where snake’s venom is outdated and bitter sour tangerines crack without fingers?’
The language is attractive but gets heavy at certain places, so much so that it gets a tad bit difficult to derive meaning. Also, the overall presentation of the book wasn’t too impressive for me with big fonts, devoid of proper spacing, filling up pages. Nevertheless, people with an interest in poetry can give it a read but beginners, please refrain because the writing might definitely pull you away.