Because All is Not Lost

Sweta Srivastava Vikram
Modern History Press (2010)
ISBN 9781615990467
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (08/10)

Loss of a loved one is evident; it’s just part of living. Emotions rise, feelings are tested, and thoughts wander.  Sweta Srivastava Vikram takes her inner experiences and transforms them into fluid words in “Because All is Not Lost.”

Vikram’s creative wordsmithing is a joy in itself:

We talk.  Grandma and I.  She delivers flakes
of snow and cupcakes of hope
with the ceaseless wind,
in the shape of her stories.

or:

Loss, like the seeds
on strawberries,
is littered everywhere,
drowning
faith in its pulp.

Sometimes dark, however poignant in nature, "Because All is Not Lost" touches the heart and soul.  Each piece offers inner reflection and gives the reader an opportunity to make peace with his or her own feelings.  I admire Vikram’s ability to transform her inner thoughts into such moving works of word art.