The soul in Sabeeha’s ‘Soul Unraveled’
Title: Soul Unraveled: Rising from the Ashes Author: Sabeeha Hussain Pages: 188 Publisher: Notion Press Reviewer: Hafsah Abubakar Matazu There are many great writers and poets, but when Sabeeha Hussain used her Instagram account to share her poetry, the audience she got was much more than she anticipated. Before she knew it, messages were flowing in […]
Title: Soul Unraveled: Rising from the Ashes
Author: Sabeeha Hussain
Pages: 188
Publisher: Notion Press
Reviewer: Hafsah Abubakar Matazu
There are many great writers and poets, but when Sabeeha Hussain used her Instagram account to share her poetry, the audience she got was much more than she anticipated. Before she knew it, messages were flowing in and for a worthy reason; there was something in her poems that had those that read it hooked. She gave words deeper meaning and reflected on life issues many people could relate with, like love, heartbreak, domestic violence, racism and other social issues. All these found their way into her sassy and captivating poems. When she told me she was going to publish her compilation of poetry, I knew it would be worth it.
The book is divided into six chapters, titled; Spark, Ignite, Burn, Ashes, Embers and Rising.
Spark is filled with love poems. Easily understood, it has a long lasting effect. Sabeeha uses sentences to capture the idea of love as something giddy, overwhelming and exciting. The chapter comes well together as the poems flow one after the other. The next chapter ignite, reflects the storm that comes with heartbreak and the emotion in the lines seems almost too real. The rawness and tragedy shows an exemplary use of superlatives.
Burn moves on from love and heartbreak and hits hard on issues such as rape, child molestation and gender discrimination. This poet is known to be a strong feminist and human rights activist and used her telent to express this in ‘Soul Unraveled’. This chapter is my favourite. Her fiery persona is splashed all over the pages of Burn and I was all for it.
For Ashes, she focuses on the sides of numbness and depression for the healing process of the previous chapters, Ignite and Burn. It deals with the pain inflicted by heartbreak, the discrimination, and the rape. The descriptiveness of feeling in this chapter proves that indeed the more I read and the deeper I got into the book, the better the writing became. It’s as if she was slowly reeling out of her cocoon to show how her word play could cut through.
Embers is filled with poems of self-worth and awareness. This chapter is not as empowering as the previous ones that have her carrying the reader, but rather, it gaves the impression that she is writing in her comfort zone and left the daringness she starts with behind.
The concluding chapter, Rising, is all about healing, acceptance and starting afresh, carrying the scars left behind after heated battle. In all honesty, she nails it with the last chapter, leaving me needing to turn more pages, showing that indeed, everything can be overcome, whether through strength or weakness.
Overall, ‘Soul Unraveled: Rising from the Ashes’ is a thrilling compilation of poetry. The theme of the phoenix and the flow from death to rebirth is enthralling. For a debut, it’s a perfect blend of darkness and light, easy to understand and a pleasure to read.