I’ve been following Darshana on Tumblr for a while now, and I’ve been waiting to read Howling at the Moon since it was first published, and I have to say it did not disappoint in the least.
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Darshana Suresh’s poetry collection is exquisitely painful – but it’s the beautiful kind of painful, the kind that tears at the places that need to be torn. The kind that is necessary and gorgeous, and keeps you going back for more.
This collection is an intensely private one, filled with stories of love and loss. But despite the intimacy of it, it’s still viscerally relatable. Her poetry is heavy, the kind that sinks into your stomach and doesn’t let go. I’m the kind of person that reads poetry quickly, in a sitting or two, but this took time – which, in this case, is a good thing. This is the kind of poetry that needs to be digested, the kind where each poem burrows into your skin and you need to let it sink away before you can continue.
And for all that this collection is private and intimate, it’s still relevant. It’s still the kind of poetry that speaks volumes and resounds, especially in the environment that is unfolding around the world right now.
‘That was the year we all something,’ she says in her poem Chestful of Ache, and this collection is full of loss. It’s so full of loss, but it’s the necessary loss that needs to be felt. That needs to be talked about and needs to be read.
This has quickly become one of my new favourite collections of poetry – I don’t plan on putting this on my bookshelves anytime soon. I know I’ll be going back to reread it so often that the trips to and fro my shelves won’t be worth it.
Favourite Quote:
Tell me, Atlas. What is heavier: the world or its people’s hearts?
Recommended Age Group: 18
Final Verdict: I’m wondering if someone can get me a special hardback, signed copy – if you’re that person, please contact me ASAP!
Rishika Aggarwal is 23-year-old perpetual student, writing poetry in between work and studying literary theory. You can find her reading, arguing about books with Sakhi, on Tumblr, or on Gumroad, selling her all together amazing works. An edited version of this review first appeared on the writer’s Goodreads page.
*Feature Image Courtesy: Digital Art.
