The late comedian, Richard Jeni, had a routine called ‘Love Songs.’ It chronicled how love songs on the radio were designed to specifically drive those who were not in relationships to the brink of suicide (the irony of Jeni’s death in 2007 by a self-inflicted gunshot wound is apparent).
You might wonder how that relates to Balroop Singh’s collection of poems, ‘Moments We Love.’ The author, in her preface, states that she looks for the reader to drink deeply of the emotions colored here. Yet poetry is transactional – not only what the poet brings in shaping these words, but what the reader brings with them when they open the book and read what is there.
The book is divided into three sections – Moments of Love, Moments of Harmony, and Moments that make Life. The poet’s style is free verse, stanzas of anywhere from three to five lines, more evocative of feeling than rhythm. Depending on your take in poetry, you might or might not prefer the style. But in every poem, Singh seeks to touch the reader gently, like a soft rain or a gentle breeze, not pushing the point as much as inviting the reader in to consider the moment.
One jarring piece in the front of the collection is titled “The Editor’s Review.” I’m not accustomed to a book including a review of itself, especially one so positive, in its text. If this were labeled as a foreword, and the editor wrote it as her observations, it might be more appropriate. Then again, that may be a stylistic preference on my part.
One other structural note on the ebook - it would have been more convenient as an owner if the individual poems, as well as the sections, were linked to an active table of contents. That way, I could refer back to a poem that I felt a specific connection to without having to flip through page after page to reach it. Again, this is a stylistic choice on my part.
I would be curious if this book works the way Richard Bach suggests in his novel ‘Illusions.’ His characters presented the theory that certain books worked like that – you concentrate on the question or feeling that you are struggling with, then opened the book randomly, and the message on the page would relate in some way to your query. My gut feeling is this collection would lend itself nicely to that premise.
I’m not a connoisseur of poetry, preferring the occasional e.e. cummings or Robert Frost. But I could see adding Singh’s work to my permanent collection quite easily. Nicely done.
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