Dive into the stream of consciousness that flows through a teenager's mind.

Coming of Age

I want to write / Something that you will believe / Something that's more than these words

And does she ever. Poet DIYA DAS illuminates six years of adolescence through her introspective verse. Diya's first artistic musings are young and playful. As her inner landscape develops, themes become more complex as she ponders the contradictory nature of life.

I spend my life on the fence / Between who you think I am and who I always was

Lines like these crystallize the transformation of young girl into mature woman. As Diya begins to shape the foundation of her character, she takes an active role choosing what she will retain from childhood and what she will discard. With each poetic endeavor, her creativity is sharpened through the increased depth of her day-to-day experiences.

I'll see you tomorrow / And again and again / Sometime in eternity / I don't know when / But that's where you'll find me / When tomorrow comes again

The portrait of Diya as an artist comes into focus as she grasps the transcendent power inherent in the written word. Her teenage self eternally resides in these pages.

REVIEW

The author is a sixteen year old girl still in high school, so if you read this book with that in mind, her prose is impressive. If you are unaware of that fact, then you most likely will consider it of dubious worth. In many ways, her prose reflects her youth, yet she does show promise as a poet and a writer.

Reviewed by: Charles Ashbacher

EXCERPT

I first began writing poetry when I was in elementary school - for English class. I did not write regularly for another year, after which I begin to date all my poems. From as early as my third year of writing poetry, I have considered compiling all of my poetry into one
anthology at some distant time in the future. My method of writing poetry has never been completely organized; I have written in several note books at once, on post-it notes and at the computer. I realized that I should compile all of my poetry shortly after moving in the summer of 2004.

Although I initially considered a journal format for this book, I have chosen to group this collection into nine sections, selected according to the topic. Still retaining a part of my original plan, I have arranged the poems within each section in chronological order. Thus, this collection of poetry is essentially a poem journal of the past six years of my life.