Book Review: 'Epiphany: Tales of Revelation' by Ankita Rathour

“Society is helped by what we document about ourselves” says Ankita Rathour. And her debut poetry collection does exactly the same. It documents her experiences in varied forms, all of it may not be her real experience so as to say that it all happened in her life. But one can certainly guarantee that she has sympathized with the society out there. She has felt with her neighbor, who is met with sometimes tragic circumstances of life, etc. Her collection of poems, ‘Epiphany: Tales of Revelation’ are stories in a nutshell.

The issues that she primarily presents in her poetry are God, relationships, and philosophy of life. It is a collection of 46 Poems. Most of it written in free verse. The cover page done by Krishna Sharma is unique and catchy.

Her poems begin with an invocation to the muse. What is most inspiring in this poem is that the poet not just converses with the muse to inspire and provoke one to action but also promises, that one will remain faithful to the muse of one’s life. The collection of poems is a pictorial description of dread dark lives, it also portrays love that turns you mad at times. Her poems also touch upon philosophies of life that one ought to be silent and docile to the situations around so as to let things happen as they are destined to be. They utter the transience of life and its inconsistencies.

It is a hub of relationship related aspects of life. A man is complete by the presence of the woman in his life. And vice versa, relationship when mature to it transcends beyond the expectation turning out to be metaphysical in nature and a union forever enduring.

The poet renders home that at times we ought to look at ourselves and introspect. After having reflected on one’s being one has to be happy with the abundant that one is blest with but also with the blessing of the pains. Most of all she draws home the point that we shouldn’t lose sight of the petty things that we experience from God’s abundance.

I would like to do a literary appreciation on her lovely little poem ‘Mayhem’

I am collecting The gaps of you The days of blindness When I don’t see you

I am amassing Our heaving breaths The rush of life Whenever we met

© Ankita Rathour, 2016

Epiphany: Tales of Revelation

The poet is expressing one’s feelings about how one feels in the absence of the other, who is special for her. The poet is reminiscent of the person with whom she has spent part of her life. In very few lines she expresses a whole lot of a story of separation that at times happens in relationships due to unavoidable circumstances. She places before us the innocence of certain individuals who haven’t been responsible for such occasions. She is point blank that relationships and everything that is attached to it is dear to her and therefore she recounts those deeds that happened between her and the other.