Kismet

Theologians, philosophers, social scientists, and astrologers often wonder whether we are born with our kismet (destiny) or with Robert Frost's view, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference." The poems of this collection do not support any of the two perspectives. Rather, Dipa Sarkar-Dey simply invites us to discern the kismet of teenagers in a war-stricken country, the kismet of biases on skin colors, the kismet of a disabled person, the kismet of immigrants in a dreamland called America, and even the kismet of a little bird. Throughout the collection, she depicts the inner turmoil gently, without being harsh and chaotic. Her love of nature and faith in a supreme being intertwine in the poems like a colorful Persian rug.

-- Dipa Sarkar-Dey