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A collection of verses full of love and loss and yearning, containing poems of simplicity and complexity, written with feeling
published in the summer of 2017, this book is composed of 30 poems cherry rao wrote in her 20s — simple words, delicate (and at times ridiculous) thoughts.
for the first 50 copies, anyone who donated US$20 to any charity of their own choice could get a book by simply showing the donation receipt. the project resulted at around US$1,000 donation to a number of charities, including WWF, World Vision, UNHCR, heforshe, Hong Kong Dog Rescue, paws guardian, BC Cancer Agency and SOS Børnebyerne.
behind every poem there is a story. cherry explores “the less obvious” through poetry and enjoy juxtaposing elements from different languages and cultures to construct imagery of in-betweens. wordplays, fairy-tales, myths and symbolism intrigue her.
she is now in her 30s and residing in denmark with her husband.
Cherry Rao's collection of verse begins with some short poems containing simple images, and first impressions suggest that this will be a relatively straightforward collection of poems, dealing with appropriate images deftly presented like the image of the sun in tangerine.
However, this assumption would be wrong as the collection grows in complexity and depth as it progresses and I garnered more satisfaction from the second half of the book than from the first; that is not to say that the preliminary poems lacked merit - far from it. Poems like the playfully named llover were charming with its lines about "where there are rains/there are lovers/they say so/in spanish weather." And wednesday with its stars and the idea of transmitting happiness across distance or the space between people. These poems give a sense of the realness of love and longing in its purest form.
Warmth also comes across in the poems about family, where the poet describes her parents and some of their idiosyncrasies. This is especially true of the poem my mother, where the maternal figure conjured is a strong and grounding presence.
Along with love comes loss and there are poems that deal with pain and the void that is left when someone leaves, whether this is the end of a relationship or through death. There is no anguish here though; you are not assaulted by graphic images of hurt but the idea that the poet is sad and feels grief is palpable in some poems and washes over you as a reader; for example, through the descriptions of ashes being scattered in ashes to the sea and in the depiction of a house neglected in mildew.
Rao's strength comes from her ability to use vocabulary that is not difficult to understand, making her verse accessible, but further taking these words and weaving them to form images that are evocative and vivid. This is especially true of the poem the windows which is my favourite in the whole collection, the light as it is dissected coming into a room being a metaphor for loss.
This was a lovely collection which I very much enjoyed reading. It was short and yet, I felt like I had experienced much after reading it.
Reviewed by
I love to read and write reviews for everything I read. I also write, my short stories having received runner-up plaudits on Reedsy Prompts and Vocal. I have my own blog at scuffedgranny.com where I publish most of my writings as well as a podcast called Scuffed Granny Writes on Spotify.
Synopsis
published in the summer of 2017, this book is composed of 30 poems cherry rao wrote in her 20s — simple words, delicate (and at times ridiculous) thoughts.
for the first 50 copies, anyone who donated US$20 to any charity of their own choice could get a book by simply showing the donation receipt. the project resulted at around US$1,000 donation to a number of charities, including WWF, World Vision, UNHCR, heforshe, Hong Kong Dog Rescue, paws guardian, BC Cancer Agency and SOS Børnebyerne.
behind every poem there is a story. cherry explores “the less obvious” through poetry and enjoy juxtaposing elements from different languages and cultures to construct imagery of in-betweens. wordplays, fairy-tales, myths and symbolism intrigue her.
she is now in her 30s and residing in denmark with her husband.
About the author
Cherry Rao is a storyteller, poetess and wordsmith. Rao graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts and English Studies. For a decade, she has worked in the field of art and education as a writer and editor. She resides in Copenhagen, Denmark. view profile
Published on August 17, 2021
0-1000 words
Genre: Poetry
Reviewed by
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