Sonal Singh On Sonal's Table
Srivalli’s ‘The scattered purple flowers’ is a 117 pages long compilation of poetic verses that serenade nature, tickle the funny bone, and pay a tribute to survivors of abuse, genocide, etc. The poems are an ode to free verse poetry and other poetic forms. Srivalli wrote these poems in response to various prompts during the NaPoWriMo events on the ArtoonsInn writing platform between 2023 and 2024. This is her second poetry anthology after ‘Violets in Hand’.
The first section, ‘An ode to nature’ speaks about the sun, the stars, the wilderness, the rainbow and other elements that celebrate nature’s resplendence. My favourite poem in this section is ‘The nameless night bird’, written in Srivalli’s favourite poetic style – the chant. Another poem that touched my heart was ‘Starlight’.
The second section, ‘Lost in memories in a place called home’, speaks about memories, longing for home, childhood, a mother-daughter bond and also gives the readers a glimpse into Srivalli’s childhood (as many poems in this section are deeply personal).
‘Tickle the funny bone’, the third section, has poems that evoke chuckles and laughter. I loved the poem, ‘A joke that wasn’t’ … Ha! Ha! The poem, ‘Pollen-y spring’ read like an ode to allergies which I too have suffered and hence I could identify with this poem.
The fourth section, ‘Shh! It’s not personal!’, has poems on memories, nostalgia, solitude, aspirations, heartache and forgiveness.
The fifth section, ‘It is supposed to hurt’, makes you sit up and take note after the deliberate attempt to lull your senses. The attempt works. This section has poems that trigger grief, anguish, and revulsion. The poetic styles are distinct, a ghazal, a tanka, a viator, etc. The author based many of these poems on real-life incidents.
The sixth section, ‘puzzle pieces that won’t fit’, decries the noise that surrounds us, cautions us to slow our pace and to erect boundaries. The poems in this section are a melange of topics, but the thread of life connects them all.
The seventh section, ‘In the space between’, contains poems that speak of love, loss, mourning, uncomfortable silences, etc. My favourite in this section is ‘Would I love you any less’, again a chant style poem. I have to say that this is my favourite section in the book.
If you like poetry, if you like to sit with a book and sink into verses, pick this book up. Its available on Amazon.
