Reflections...A Potpourri of Poems on Life, Love, and Our Human Condition

Mehra’s inspirational verses tackle emotional questions that “span the gamut of life” and advocate a global mindset.

This 14-poem collection covers diverse ground, including such subjects as marriage, friendship, betrayal and politics, the value and purpose of sex, and what constitutes a well-lived life. Throughout, Mehra looks at human emotions using easy-to-understand language. His verses aren’t driven by images and symbols; instead, they connect to quotidian concerns in thoughtful ways. For example, in “Life,” the narrator reminds readers: “Not money, nor fame, nor power nor name…None of them matter in your soul’s brilliant flight, / So, live full, love well, be kind, and live right.” The rhyme scheme, typical of these poems, has a songlike quality that makes for a quick, easy read. Some readers may find the poems’ dependence on platitudes, and their use of outmoded words such as “ ’twas,”“ ’tis,”“aye” and “thou,” unappealing. The author also occasionally forces rhymes (“beaver/…Shiva” in “Da Chief”). That said, readers seeking easy-to-swallow advice and inspiration will find these poems comfortable and unintimidating. That’s not to say Mehra shies away from harder-hitting subjects, however. In “Sex—The Greatest Gift of All?,” he digs into tantric tradition, playfully wishing readers the joy of energized chakras. In three other poems, he intellectually critiques India’s history. In “The Littlest Particle,” for example, he fascinatingly compares Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider with a hardhearted Mumbai woman—the original “littlest particle”—who perpetuated “a negative vortex [that] never before had been seen.” The woman, who bears a striking resemblance to Indira Gandhi,“lived in her tiny universe” and “shrunk even further / Beyond the tiny and miniscule and sub-atomic layer” until “one day she exploded—’twas the grand / finale.”

A slim, accessible volume that offers gentle inspiration while beckoning readers to widen their worldview.