Swinging Sanity is the first book of poetry by N.F. Mirza, who you may know from her blog, Stoner on a Roller Coaster.
The book is organized according to five themes, beginning with screaming numbness and ending with random reflections. Each section begins with an illustration depicting different facets of the author along with a relevant quote.
The poems vary in length, ranging from a few lines to just over two pages. Each one is raw and rich with emotion. She combines words in creative and often unexpected ways. Some of my favourite lines were:
“Purity is splashed with gunk”
“Sooty naïve torn to tatters”
“Announced under spell of poisonous stupidity”
“Women’s laughs have shrunk to grim shut lips”
“And my eyes dry to cracked grey stones”
And of course any coffee addict is sure to enjoy the poem Dude! Where Is My Coffee?
This was a captivating and powerful book, and hopefully this will be the first poetry collection of many from N.F. Mirza.
Swinging Sanity is available on Amazon (affiliate link).
You can find the author on her blog Stoner on a Roller Coaster.
You can find my other reviews on the MH@H book review index or on Goodreads.