By Fayth Simmons
In this collection of poems, Jaspreet Singh provides a narrative stage for an examination of the human in relation to the greater world. Using exploratory form, each of his pieces takes on a differing function to illustrate the place of humans in the continual development of the Anthropocene. The poems touch on the glaring fragility of existence and speak to the visceral understanding of what it means to be a writer in the current age, with the constant grasp of two separate worlds—the visible one, from which inspiration is drawn, and the created one, in which ideas are processed and tossed around before entering into the bounds of the former one.
Singh’s collection is potent, truthful, and emotional. Sorrow and pain infuse narrations on colonization and climate change, and frustration accompanies musings on capitalism, but despite these heavy touchstones, the poems are not hopeless. Singh is able to expertly weave sorrow through lines of quiet joy, and feelings of unrest are considered only in equal measure with feelings of peace and contentment. In this way, the collection is balanced, with clear questions and intentions.
There is a sincere wisdom and beauty to each poem in this collection, which is doubled by the symbolic image of the pebble: ancient, clear, and untameable. The reference to such an object cannot simply be stylistic—instead, Singh asks the reader how they may relearn how to hold the pebble, insinuating a need for a greater degree of thoughtfulness in regard to the human role of stewardship over all things that we have so carefully tied to ourselves and our linear continuum. There is a sharp intellect present here, and an undeniable lyrical sensibility, which transcends from the page and begs to be considered.
Thank you to NeWest Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.