Book Review: Speak, Woman! by Smita Agarwal

Saba Mahmood Bashir reviews a poetry collection by Smita Agarwal titled Speak, Woman! (Red River, 2021)

• ISBN: 978-81-953056-5-0

Reviewing a book of poetry is never an easy task. One keeps getting pulled into it, page by page, poem by poem. As one continues to engage with each voice on the page, it looks at you, smiles or tears, and, maybe, peeps into your soul and self. For instance, the opening lines of ‘Afterwards’, which run as:

To empty out the heart 

like the bag of a vacuum cleaner, 

vigorously shaking loose

dust and debris

of memory…

takes you into the abyss of your heart, and you end up rummaging the debris of your own memories.