"Othello" written by William Shakespeare play explores themes of jealousy, manipulation, betrayal

Human emotions are countless and the ways to express them are limited. One can say, hint, signal, express by acting or by writing… and today, we are going to meet one such expression – an expression of lost love or, to put in better words, found love… If I am Born Again, Lord Please… is a poetry collection or a story told in verse by Shopone (a pseudonym). I am going to review the same today.

Shopone has given the readers a very important hint on the blurb as well as on the front pages. He is writing about his beloved, his love at an early age and then the ordeal which he had to go through just because he and his beloved could not come together… however, was she really his beloved? Did she even love him? Shopone could not come to a conclusion but he kept on loving her even after her marriage.

There are 7 long poems in the collection with an epilogue. All the poems in the collection try to collect a story related to the poet and his beloved and one can easily understand that the poet is moving from earthly emotions to the objectivity. The poet’s journey on the course to understand the essence of life has been captured rather wonderfully in this book. Still, the title and the cover of the book leave a lot for the readers to speculate – If I am Born Again… Lord Please…

The pain of the poet can be felt very easily by the readers. He pains that he could not be with his love; he sorrows that he could not touch and love her; he mourns that his beloved has married someone else. He writes:

“Yes, we are poles apart
My love – he and I! 
We are poles apart! 
Cause he touched and felt you with love
I could just sense 
You in my dreams!”

The poem number 5, her priorities, gives the readers a very clear sense of what might have transpired between Shopone and his beloved. Poems, the first to the seventh, makes the readers understand that every journey that begins with the discovery of something or someone else, ends often with finding oneself! These lines might have given the poet his redemption and shown him the door to a life which is lived and enjoyed and felt:

“Sometimes Life is a hearty laughter 
Sometimes a soul-piercing cry
Somewhere a joyful sunshine 
Somewhere a fearful nightmare 
Sometimes the passion of the youth 
Sometimes an apathy of the dying 
Sometimes the valour of the brave 
Sometimes the greediness you crave 
Sometimes the deep maternal embrace 
…

Who am I? 
Stop! Wait! Listen! 
I am! 
It’s the Song of Life! 
It’s the Song of my Life! 
I AM – the Song of Life!!”

To conclude, the poems might not reflect the dexterity that you might have wanted to see but these poems are pure expressions without any artistic meters. The poet is sharing his agony with the readers and that’s why he has focused on the content rather than the delivery of content. Yes, these could be better expressed. However, whatever it could be, If I am Born Again, Lord Please… has certainly been a wonderful read with its peaks and limitations. You try to get the hold of Shopone’s emotional journey and he has been able to arouse the curiosity in the readers wonderfully.