C. L. Sihag

Debut author Sihag’s collection of poems addressing truth and freedom in relation to faith.

Sihag uses verse to explore humanity’s desire for truth and mistaken roads toward that desire. The author focuses especially on two disparate concepts; both are aimed at truth and yet, in the author’s eyes, miss it—atheism and religion. The cold logic of atheism, as well as the restrictions of religion, take individuals away from eternal truths. She notes, for instance: “The atheist—leaps to the most logical conclusion….A religionist loses all perspective in his confusion.” Sihag seems to argue instead for a personal and experiential approach to the divine. “Do not confuse God with religion,” she notes, “you see / The whole world is lost in such details.” Likewise, she warns the atheist, “[I]t is such a serious thing to repudiate God without care.” Not all of Sihag’s poems are so overtly faith-oriented in content. Some are more pastoral or therapeutic. For instance, “Why Me?” explores someone’s death from illness. “Beyond” is a brief poem that looks at the beauty of snowflakes and sees a glimpse into the eternal and infinite. All entries conclude with one or more verses from the Bible to underscore their lessons. Though simple rhyming schemes make the poetry seem elementary at first, it soon becomes clear that each poem’s meaning is opaque and mysterious, requiring deeper reading and pondering by the reader. Sihag’s work actually harkens back to the qualities of ancient Hebrew wisdom writings, such as Ecclesiastes. In eschewing simple, black-and-white versions of truth accepted by society at large and, instead, considering the ambiguities of life and accepting them for what they are, Sihag shares a worldview and style dating back to the time of Solomon.

Enigmatic yet practical poetry aimed at those too certain of life’s truths.