In Mind: A Collection of Poetry

Title: In Mind: A Collection of Poetry
Author: Diya Das
Rating:




This anthology, written by a 16 year-old girl from India, covers six years of her life. It is broken up into 9 sections and encompasses different phases of her life. The sections include the titles “First Drafts”, “A Writer’s Hands”, “In Mind”, “Fantasy Moments”, “It’s not me, it’s you”, “Pondering”, “Daydreams and Nightmares”, “Wandering Home”, and “Intercepted Conversations”. I was excited to read the words of a teen and get her perspective on life as she was experiencing it.

The first few poems are obviously written by a young person. The word choice and lack of formal structure are not an issue. They seem to be written in a stream of consciousness manner and remind me of listening to a teenager talk. The early poems are simplistic in form and topic. As the poet ages, the tone of the poems changes and becomes more emotionally focused rather than on topics outside the poet.

I enjoyed the earlier poems, but as the poems and poet matured, I was less involved with the words. I felt that she was trying too hard to make the poems profound and deep rather than letting the poems happen, and I found myself struggling to get through some of them. However, I think this poet demonstrates a lot of potential in her writing, and I believe teens may find themselves in her words through similar experiences.