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Book review | A penny and some poems for the thoughts left unsaid

Writer Soumya Mukerji’s debut book, a collection of poems titled Cries, delves into human emotions at a pace that is praiseworthy. With some choicest of words, searing feelings conjure up in the readers’ mind and compel one to hold onto this work of writing close to the soul.

Published on: Aug 21, 2026, 09:07:35 IST
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Amid the cacophony of life, did you just hold back from screaming out another thought into the blank universe, expecting someone to hear? Relenting one such howl is author Soumya Mukerji’s debut book and collection of poems, Cries.

Writer Soumya Mukerji’s debut book is a collection of poems titled Cries.
Writer Soumya Mukerji’s debut book is a collection of poems titled Cries.

Most people carry within them words they never quite articulate. Then there are those who painstakingly yet passionately keep infusing life into those thoughts because they know no other way but to hold on to their ‘life-giving elixir’. Mukerji belongs to the latter, yet different, for it is certainly easier to become a writer than a poet.

With a yelp, the first section of her book, Cries of Us, unfolds to position poetry as a cure for the inexplicable. Seasons make their appearance emphatically; they fall and then dance with the rain. The verses are both soothing and supportive in the poem Seasons of Self that read: “at first you are the rain... then you are one with the rain.”

And then comes the finale with Cries of I, the section that openly pens the woes of every Seeker and their Shrieks as well as their Sounds. It’s here that the musings make way for some smiles as Mukerji turns street-smart, weaving her life experiences through poems that only a few may fully fathom to decrypt.

Throughout this book, the poet pays an ode to the rain that feels welcoming and nostalgic. But what’s stranger than the word ‘after’, as confessed in the Afterword, is how the writer gives full disclosure to the opening sentiment that “perfection is plastic” and comes out unbeaten.

Title: Cries

Author: Soumya Mukerji

Publisher: Westland Books

Price: 350

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