Embrace – A Book Review

              

Book Title: Embrace               

Author: Yeshey Choden (Yeshe)

Publisher: Bhutan Printing Solution

Published: 2022

Pages: 20

Price: Nu.390.00

To be frank, reading poetry has never been a rewarding hobby to me. Every time I read one, I either struggle to understand the words, the language or what the poem is trying to convey. But, reading ‘‘Embrace’ was a different experience. As it was written in simple language, I could really connect with the feelings of the speaker. 

Packed inside a voluptuous red cover that contains a separate red book, little poem cards, empty envelopes and a book-marker, ‘Embrace’ by Yeshey Choden (Yeshe) is a collectible set of twenty beautiful poems written on the various themes of love.

Written in free verse with no rigid structures and rhythms, ‘Embrace’ is a complete breakaway from how traditional poetry is written. Perhaps this is the first poem I ever read without singing rhymes on my lips. The poem book is an example on how simpler it has become to write modern poems. The word choices are made simple, use of figures of speech are less, and the poem lines are short.

There are also beautiful artworks that are scribbled on the left page of every poem. Chimmi Yeshey Selden has done a fabulous job of illustrating these visual feasts. I bet that Chimmi’s art and Yeshey’s poem together can serve as a decorative framework to be hung on the immaculate walls of high-end hotels or a home.

I feel ‘Embrace’ is set and written in a melancholic tone. The speaker is full of ‘I miss you’ emotions and ‘I love you’ type of transcendental passionate romances. It was written based on the retrospect feelings of love that come to the speaker’s mind whenever the speaker revisits all the beautiful vivid experiences that had been accumulated as a lover the time before.The speaker can be found missing the kisses, warm hugs, the way they made conversations, and even the body scent of the lover rummaging through the drawers of her past memories. 

There is a beautiful line that captures the feeling of love in its entirety –

“The smell of your cologne lingers
As you kiss me in a million ways 
Oh, how you embrace me warm and tight 
Your memory hangs over me like a halo
Missing you is the best feeling I have ever known.”

Embrace, (page #4)

Another thing I most admire about the book is the author’s ability to pay attention to details. It was a joy to read how the author (or the speaker) see her feelings in small details and put it so beautifully in the way she wants –

“…The twitch of your smile 
The fine lines next your eyes
The way your shirt rests on your chest 
The little thunder of your laughter 
The rhythm of your footsteps…” 

Embrace, (page #3)

Yeshe cannot be just a space engineer  doing a serious job at MoIC, if one could ever screw open her heart in the future, maybe she is also a person who can be more romantic than what other guys can do, because in love and relationships she communicates in a language different from us, as in – 

“Sending memes competition, our love language” (page #8)

Happy Reading.