Divan of Shah

Author Shah Asad Rizvi sent me a copy of his poetry book, Divan of Shah, in return for an honest review. Well, here it is!

Let me start by mentioning that I don’t usually intake poetry via an entire book. Most of my experience with poetry has been focusing on a single poem, or maybe a small selection, at a time. That being said… I’ve read a lot of poetry, so I have a decent understanding about the way a lot of people write it—and the places people tend to get stuck. The biggest trap poets fall into is making their poetry incredibly dark and depressing. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that, but it gets exhausting as a reader. Fortunately, Shah Asad Rizvi did not fall into that trap. Divan of Shah is focused on the beauty of life, love, and dance. I found it very refreshing… and a bit relieving!

The book basically alternated between longer poems and shorter (almost Haiku-like poems). It created a nice rhythm. My two favorite longer poems were “Let Us Dance” and “Dance of Life.” However, I found that I preferred the shorter poems as a majority, which isn’t surprising as I tend to lean towards Haikus in just about any situation.

Also, amidst all of the poems about loved ones and dancing, there was one that made me laugh because it… well… seemed to explain a little bit about me:

Hearts dance once again

when canvas of ice is painted

with the brush of skates

I won’t lie. It made me think of how much lighter my heart became after I discovered my love for ice skating. So yeah. I liked it!

There were a few times where the language seemed stilted, or there was punctuation a place that disrupted the flow of words, but overall, I did like the language used. I think my biggest qualm with the book was that after a while, all the poems seemed to be saying the same thing, just with slightly different language. It felt a little too repetitive.

Overall, it was a nice thing to read—a break in my usual routine. It was a bit of fresh air!

Get your copy of Divan of Shah here!