Book Review: Palm Lines by Jonathan Koven

Palm Lines by Jonathan Koven is a splendid collection of around twenty poems and prose. The book is highly readable and it becomes easy to grasp the presented themes because Jonathan Koven has segmented the collection into three parts: Life Line, Heart Line, and Head Line.

Each segment is followed by a sublime and beautiful painting. It gives hunch about the inside poems and prose. Talking about the first section, which is about life, it is more or less about life experiences the narrator had had in his life.

It is high on nostalgia and seeks hope, despair, reminisces of past days, especially when someone is young. The feeling of being young is brought forward brilliantly. In this part, the poem My Childhood Friend is truly heart-warming. And in the poem 'I Was a Tourist', the poet longs for a love from an unknown girl – a feeling quite common during our youth.

The Heart Line touches the familial bonding and allegiance and love as an evident theme. Be it any segment, the poems are easy to read and provide food for thought if you delve deep. The last section is Head Line, it concerns the voice of a lonely soul. The poems of this section reflect the state of cogitation and solitude.

Jonathan's poetry is expressive yet subtle. The way he blended so many themes into one so smoothly is indeed a praiseworthy effort. If read twice or thrice, it is for sure that you will fall in love with the beauty of this book. It is good and carries a unique feel for the poetry lovers. A highly recommended book on life and its allied themes!

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