Poetry doesn’t just emerge as an unexpected and uninvited inspiration in a writer’s mind. The rhythms, melodies and stanzas which comprise a poetic masterpiece

are not the product of chance or a sudden realization which can be plucked like ripe fruits from a tree. A poet, instead, has to plant the seed of their experiences and stories into the ground, and toil and work for years as they nurture the seedling, then the sapling, and then the beautiful and mature tree. It is only following many hours of intense self-reflection, arduous journeying and self-awareness that a poet attains the spiritual and emotional maturity they need to blossom and ripen into their full poetic potential.

Jasmine Jayasekara is such a poet who has flourished and thrived so wonderfully at an incredibly young age. Her debut poetry collection is an intensely powerful lyrical masterpiece which is bound to inspire, empower and entrance those who read through her works. Published by Queen Sea Publishers, this stunning volume of poems is an awe-inspiringly and gorgeously curated collection that is at once a unique testimony and a timeless tribute to the legacy, achievements and potential of South Asian female writers.

The poetry contained within this collection is at once breathtakingly raw and flawlessly composed. Through describing her own journey through life and the lessons she has learned, Jasmine gives her reader the opportunity to reflect and ponder upon their own life journey and the way in which it has made them the person they are in the present. There are more than thirty poems within the book, and each of them touch upon the highs and lows, the perfections and imperfections, the chaos and organization of the human spirit.

Aspirations, dreams, experiences, hopes, heartbreaks, longing and desires are intricately entwined with the words so artistically scattered across the white pages of Jasmine’s poetry collection. Each of the poems are written under particular themes, which comprise Family, Pain, Nature, Country side, Love, Solitude, Human World, The Woman, and Farewell. But these themes frequently overlap and spill into one another, perfectly illustrating the multi-faceted complexity and bewildering wonderment of life.

The following excerpt is from ‘Green Dream’, just one of the poems in the collection. Brimming with unrestrained emotion and a captivating intensity, the voice of ‘Green Dream’ immerses us in the anticipation, anger, pain, love and fulfilment which accompanies motherhood.

“Pieces she gathered

They asked one query

Repeated everyday

Fire sprang within

Burnt her very soul

The parched earth

Awaited so long

Praying for a rain drop

Never she gave up

Amid so much pain

God smiled she

Yelled in one morn

It was that sign

Awaited many years.”

One of the most fascinating aspects of this poetry collection is the way the various themes and words so comprehensively encompass everything which makes a being human special. Jasmine not only expresses this through the experiences and interactions within and amongst humans themselves, but also in terms of their relationship with nature and the wider mechanisms of the universe itself. Poetry is an exercise of balance – between words, rhythms, rhymes and melodies. Balance is intrinsic to the symmetry and eloquence of Jasmine’s poetry, a touching and heartfelt ode to the interconnectedness between humans, nature and the surrounding universe.

Nature is a form of balance, the balance between night and day, the balance of the seasons, and the balance of the elements which ensure that everything is working in perfect unison. Since we ourselves have come from nature, we have to seek this balance through other means, such as the balance between self-love and loving others, solitude and relationships, and between longing for the past and hoping for what’s to come.

Jasmine’s love of nature is apparent in her poems, and this is more than evident in this passage from the poem ‘New Eyes.’ Within this example, she seamlessly weaves the wonders of nature with the wonders of a new life. The birth of a child is one of the ways in which nature’s miracles continue to touch our lives so intimately and on such a personal basis, and this is a sentiment that Jasmine emphasizes throughout her poetry, even it is not immediately apparent.

“Morning dues, morning hues

Mild winds, deep blue sky

Fresh blooms, green twigs

New eyes, new cries

Passionate hands rock the new cradle

Tiny fresh nestling tweets at the new mother

Ancient hay hut decaying decades

Giggles to the just heard lullabies.”

Jasmine’s lyrical artistry is enhanced by the beautiful pencil sketches created by the artist  Sajith Perera. These illustrations are a perfect example of the intimacy of this poetry collection, especially because some of the pencil sketches include portraits of the writer, her friends and her family as well. This is her debut poetry collection, and yet it is bursting with such promise and potential that there is truly no limitations or bounds to what Jasmine may create in the future when she inevitably publishes more books.

In this poetry collection, the journey of the human condition through the winding paths and avenues of life is not presented as a one-dimensional or single-toned canvas. Instead, she presents life as a gorgeous multi-faceted diamond composed of numerous aspects and parts, which reflects countless sparkling lights and a dazzling array of colours. Poetry is the lyrical and physical manifestation of the writer’s soul and mind, and through manifesting her own reality Jasmine gives us the opportunity to manifest ourselves as well.