From a young age, I was into reading poetry. My parents encouraged me constantly to read, whether it be newspaper articles, science books, or even novels. I am thankful to them since it opened up a whole new world for me where the possibilities were endless.
On my reading journey, I of course discovered Shakespeare who many people call the godfather of poetry. Moving further into the rabbit hole I got to read Edgar Allan Poe, and this was where another beautiful yet grim world opened up for me.
Years later I started to feel maybe poetry is losing its aura with people and doesn’t connect the same way like it used to, I was in a lot of ways losing hope and sure that maybe I will fall out of love with poetry itself, and sure enough, life gets in the way, I started to read less and less, and one day I just stopped altogether. It’s stranger how life can be one way for a minute and be completely different the second minute.
A couple of years passed, and I looked at my bookshelf that had all my poetry books, I had read all of them multiple times. It had all the classics. Then I suddenly decided that I needed to read something different—something by writers who don’t have grandiose names.
I called my former book club friend and asked her to recommend me something. She ran through some names, and then in between mentioned “The hymn of the Dandelion”. She said that it was very interesting, and started to read some poems from the book, safe to say I was impressed, but what really piqued my interest was the fact that the author Judy Abualhassan was just 18 years old when she wrote this.
After a long conversation with my friend, I finally decided to order the book and got it in a day. I couldn’t read it the same day because I had work. So, I set aside one of my weekend days instead. I still remember that it was a Saturday night when I poured myself a glass of wine and opened the book. I read the dedications, table of contents, and so on just to get a feel for Judy. Anyway, I then started to read the first poetry titled “Decaying Song”. The first chapter always sets the tone for what is about to follow, and boy did it set the tone.
After the first poem, I kept reading and moved forward. I reread some poems multiple times, spending minutes on end trying to understand them or simply admiring the beauty of the stanzas. The power of the words on the page also drew me in. When I finally stopped and looked at the time, I realized how quickly it had flown by. I felt a sensation I thought I had completely lost.
This read took me back to my childhood, when I first developed an interest in poetry. It is very hard to describe the experience, as it felt nostalgic and, at the same time, completely new. Maybe that is what Judy intended, though I will probably never know for sure. I was transported into a world that the author devised and loved every moment of it.
