According to poetess Misna Chanu, India, the author of “The Silent Whispers”; “Poetry is not just lines of beautiful words on a piece of paper; but it’s a part of moments we lived and living memories we created and still carrying within! Poetry is a part of imaginations and realities, a part of dreams and desires, a part of hope and despair, a part of bitter and sweet realities of life. Then, poetry is some pieces of heart, some drops of tears, some moments of laughter, some moments of failure Some moments of joy and unending moments of heart’s yearning and longing too! And most of all, poetry is the portrait of unbreakable silence on the canvas of soul!”

For many reasons, I consider this poem  is the key to understand the new collection of Misna Chanu, “The Silent Whispers”, First Published in 2022 by Authorspress, New Delhi, India (124 Pages). In her Preface, the author has a confession; She exists only in two places wholly. In her words and the silence between her words!, and “The Silent Whispers” is not only her whisper but the whispers of many souls of this universe whose songs remain only as whisper. She also represents “The Silent Whispers” as the unheard and unsung songs of one’s heart and voices of the world those are neglected or sometimes muted for one or many reasons. Then, “The Silent Whispers” is also the melody of all those unsung songs, somewhere diffused between the layers of time and space with none to listen to. “The Silent Whispers” is then, the voice of all the muffled melodies of the world.

The idea of this book “The Silent Whispers” was even knitted deep down in my heart before my mind could understand what it was all about! Maybe that’s the reason why she opened a Facebook page named “The Silent Whispers” around 10 years ago to share her thoughts and verses long before her mind could think of publishing a poetry book named “The Silent Whispers”.

Since a very young age, Misna Chanu has been writing poems and short stories but she didn’t really think of becoming a published author one day. She love Poetry and art of all kinds. That was the only thing she was sure of. When she was fifteen years old, her first poetry entitled “Punshi” (Life) in Manipuri (her mother tongue) was published in a magazine called “Yening” in Assam (India). Her grandmother Padmabati Kshatriyani was the first person who introduced her with art and literature. When she was a little girl, she used to read her poems of the great Indian poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. His poems ignited a spark inside her heart to write poems. Then, she read poems of a Manipuri Poet and the Founder of “Apokpa Maroop” (Apokpa religion) Lainingahal Naoriya Phulo. His poems fanned the spark within her heart and helped that spark becoming a flame. When she was in middle school, she came across the poems of Manipuri poet Dr. Lamabam Kamal. His poetry “Bishwaprem” was the poem that ignited the spark within my heart for a world of Universal love and unconditional love. His whispers touched her soul and since then, her heart has been burning with the longing of a world of unity, unconditional love, peace and harmony. She writes:

I do not dream of a paradise

But I dream of a world

Where no garden is devoid of flowers

And no heart is devoid of love!

In his foreword, Meenakshi Mohan, Ed.D., academic, writer, poet, artist, critic, editor and inquiry in Education, National Louis University, Chicago, USA, wrote that this following poem summarizes the book's theme and Misna's seventy-five verses:

A little piece of heaven

And a little piece of paradise

I bring between

My silence and my song;

When the ode sings itself

With the known lyrics

And an unknown euphoria,

And fragrances are sweeter

Than before,

With a nostalgic pain

And pleasure of their own,

Here, I remember you!

I remember you

Perhaps, as a symphony

Of souls!

Perhaps as a hymn

Of love!

Perhaps, as a sacred sanctuary

Of silence!

Meenakshi Mohan adds that Misna Chanu's poems are written in simple, free verses yet are profound and descriptive. They flow like stories, giving words to her emotions and vicariously experiencing her feelings for others. Her verses are short with vivid imagery. Even the titles of her poems are like colors on a canvas, e.g., Pearls Sleep in Silence, I Don't Want Another Son of God to be Crucified, Last Dance, Children of the Lost World, and I Will Paint You in my Poem. Her poems orbit around human emotions. There is a tinge of sadness, yet hope and expectations add a dynamic flow to her verses. Her verses are like  streams that flow steadily with their calm ripples spreading melodies despite facing many promontories of "life." Misna's poems remind him of these lines by Maya Angelou:

“Yet, today I call you to my riverside …

Come clad in peace, and I will sing the songs

The Creator gave to me when I

And the tree and stone were one.”

I conclude this short review with two examples of Misna's poems:

My Verses Are Stained

My verses are stained with

The silent cries

Of the unborn poems

Inside the womb of feelings,

Aborted by cruelty of time,

Before the birth of a dream!

My verses are stained with

The unseen tears of love,

That remain unnoticed

From the heart

For which my heart cries!

My verses are stained with

The invincible moments

Of melancholia

When solitude losses

Its leaves of charm for being solitary,

Like an Autumn tree,

But with no hope

For the arrival of Spring!

My verses are stained with

The memories of despair,

Denying to fade away with time

And the tales of the betrayals

Being told again and again in life!

My verses are stained with

Everything I have lost in my life

And all that, no longer,

I can claim as mine!

The Child Within

Let's explore

The child within us

Who smiles without reason!

Let's explore

The child within us

Who laughs out loud without hesitation!

Let's explore

The child within us

Who doesn't know the boundaries

Of the countries and the continents!

Let's explore

The child within us

Who doesn't know the walls

Between religions and races!

Let's explore

The child within us

Who loves without conditions!

Let's explore

The child within us

Who enjoys the little things of life

Without rational reasons!

Let's explore

The child within us

To live and to cherish life

More and more!