Synopsis

Newborn Smiles, CyberWit.Net, 2012 by Ramesh Anand Newborn Smiles creates a special interest in life; to live to capture those benignant moments in nature and human spirit through newborns eyes. It conveys deeper meaning in nature and human emotions through Japanese short form, Haiku and creates a magical resonance in the reader through free verses like Butterfly, The Heart Chirps and Universal Touch. Studded with a special Indian flavoured resonance, haiku are created with vivid imagery, and they replete with the brilliance of an Indian essence. At first glance, the language and the size hoodwink a reader of its intensity and also it moves one emotionally to a higher level.

Haiku in Newborn Smiles are typically lean and terse, and meet the requirements of haiku to be read in one breath. Observation is at the heart of haiku, finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, and being able to translate precious moments into words. Haiku poets write in the hope that their readers will be able to complete the poets words, by experiencing the moment and relating it to their own experiences. For instance, maple leaves / in so many colours / . . . her embroidery. In this poem the reader can see the leaves changing colour as autumn arrives and the beautiful colours in the womans needlework. Many people will have observed the change that takes place in autumn leaves and will also be familiar with a fine piece of tapestry or needlepoint. Haiku concentrate on the seasons, flowers, the weather, and the poets family. We have references to the monsoon, the mosque, elephants and the wallah, alongside haiku that refer to the more traditional themes of the natural world: springs end, winter twilight, autumn dawn, maple leaves and cloud pause.

Newborn Smiles assumes the need for haiku to move the human heart, to confront the everyday, but not to be imprisoned by them, and to hearten the reader to continue his or her own journey through the reading and writing of haiku. And throughout, the image recur, both natural and of the heart, out of which the poems take the readers to make a journey with them.

Free Verses in Newborn Smiles are witty, engaging and riveting such that poems like Attitude, Lonesome, Blink of an Eye and Thought Speaks will make readers traverse miles of thoughts . . . a journey into the poetic minds of author. On the other hand, poems like Pets End and Late Autumn draws the highest feeling of the souls suffering to death and an old womans hope for tomorrows dawn at one of the Chennais busiest market lane.

Newborn Smiles spells the beauty of nature with surrealistic exploration of imageries with a blend of classic and contemporary entities. The art of word is a joy for reading. It offers a satisfying harmony of meaning and form. Grandfather and I capture the three generations gap in a relationship, from the grandsons eyes, through humorous way.

Haiku in Newborn Smiles images out from an infants perception giving the readers an AHA effect to stay with eternally.