Today, I decided to review In The Shadow of Rainbows by Selma Martin.
Amazon Summary:
In this dazzling debut poetry collection of over 60 carefully selected poems, author Selma Martin points the way to the beauty in the everyday, the shadow of the rainbow, and the silver lining at the edge of every cloud.
Favouring lyrical forms, and revelling in rhymes and musical language, the individual poems in this collection harmonise together in symphonic splendour to form an enlightening and delightful whole.
My Thoughts About In The Shadow of Rainbows By Selma Martin:
I actually finished reading In The Shadow of Rainbows by Selma Martin quite a while ago but got a little busy so it took me a minute to get to the review. It also took me a little longer because I find it more difficult to review poetry books. I feel so connected to each poem I want to say something about each one but I also don’t want to give away too much. It’s an eternal struggle.
Anyway, let’s get into it. In The Shadow of Rainbows by Selma Martin is a collection of poems. As the Amazon summary suggests, I think the poems harmonise together very well. Some are lighter, some are observational, some share stories of the writers struggles. But all of them were absolutely brilliant to read. They were also easy to follow, which I appreciated. I know everyone has their own style but sometimes when a poet tries too hard it comes off as pretentious. I feel like Selma’s poems were so thoughtful but so down to earth too.
Specifics:
I thought it would be nice to share some specific poems and lines that stood out to me. Since it’s September, I’ll start out with these lines that I really liked from the poem “Songs of September”:
Aye, where are they-
The songs of September?
As we cross the meridian into Fall
In the last post I shared, I said that one of the things I’ve learnt is that life goes on. And I think Selma put it perfectly in her poem “Lux of Human Wisdom.” These lines from the poem really took out to me:
And Universe, without cosmic remorse,
continued on its constant course.
She shares an important lesson in her poem “Intention” about the importance of embracing the wins as well as when we lose.
Don’t be seduced by “you can’t lose,”
gains do not come from wins alone…
And finally, these incredibly thoughtful lines in her poem “When Death Comes.”
When death comes
I want to be led into eternity
curious, full of joy
knowing the world I leave
is better for the love I gave.
Of course, these were just excerpts from a small number of poems in the book. In The Shadow of Rainbows is packed with though provoking and beautiful lines like these ones.
Final Thoughts:
I want to say that I very rarely finish a book in one sitting. Especially when it comes to poetry books. But that’s what happened with this one. I just couldn’t put it down. If you enjoy poetry, I would highly recommend In The Shadow of Rainbows by Selma Martin. You will surely enjoy it thoroughly.
You can purchase In The Shadow of Rainbows by Selma Martin here.
And check out her blog here.
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