The Broken Boat - Nitin Soni

                           

It is a rare pleasure when a young poet voices his thoughts on the plight of humanity so emotionally. Nitin Soni, known popularly as the Curly Poet, has proved why he has such an impressive fan following. His poems revolve around issues that impact the world, issues which need to be addressed, like poverty, racism, rape and heartbreak.

The first poem titled ‘Resurrect’ creates an atmosphere of sorrow in the midst of joy, and sets the tone. The poet’s heart obviously bleeds for oppressed women, as is revealed in many of the poems in this collection. ‘Ravages’ rends the heart with a plea to save girls, sisters, mothers and daughters from “those beasts/Who molested humanity, love, affection, brotherhood, sisterhood/And celebrated wickedness.”

‘Oh, Ugly Woman’ berates the men who mock at “a painted ugly woman/ who always ends up in bed, /In blood.” ‘Even She’ is an inevitable reminder of the life of a whore, which ends on a truly poignant note. While ‘And Golden Apples’ holds a horrifying hint of incest, ‘Womb-to-Tomb’ encapsulates a girl’s tiny lifetime in one pithy line – “She went from womb to tomb.”

The poet writes on Love with equal ease. The poem ‘Do You Know” celebrates a pair of eyes creating circles around his heart, as he transfers “joyful glances into her eyes”. ‘I Saw Her in my Eyes” is a beautiful love poem. “The mirror I saw/It laughed in my face/ I couldn’t believe my eyes...” meanders all the way to the last two lines. “You are a stranger/On this beautiful boat.” The boat which is beautiful here turns “to an old dying and defeated boat” in ‘Poor Mother’, echoing the symbolism of the book's title.

These are but a few poems, and the young poet has many more to offer. One poem, in particular, titled ‘Of Religious Scarf’ brings an ironic smile to the face with its apparent simplicity. It is obvious that there is much more poetry in Nitin Soni’s soul, and I do hope that he strives to bring it out in yet another volume.