IMPULSES LAID BARE We are a montage of memories-- memories that we so artistically camouflage in order to fit in. Our ability to perceive things as they are and the living power to re-imagine to conform to the superficialities are diametrically opposites. The poet prompts us to step right out, to have a day for ourselves and walk along the pavement amidst the "half-woken faces" --- faces drooping in the unfathomable depths of inexpressible emotions. The other half is as obscure as our concealed selves are, but the esoteric knowledge of it is only understood by those who have gone through such failed attempts to "keep the surface pristine" . And as a result, the "concealed cracks" seem to ooze into our reality and all we end up is a blurred perception of our real selves: the shadowlines of loneliness and isolation are now darker than ever before. The circular nature of loneliness binds us in and claws onto our walls, and its jaws has carnivorous teeth.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN This review is a part of Outset Books Review Program. The title What Could Have Been by Luke Melia itself suggests that we all tend to resort to some sort of a illusory perception, a dreamlike image, or a mirage which runs in parallel with the world we live in--- the world where the persistent boredom of our dreary and futile existence conceals the 'other' world that should have been and could have been just ours. On a holiday in Greece, Dale and Suzanne plan to go on a boat trip, where the former happens to meet Heather. However, as the "tips of her fingers brushed the palm of his hand", everything went "pitch black". The author's use of such a brilliant narrative technique is completely in tune with the use of time, memory and nostalgia. Just as their reality went dark in an instant, a spark of imagination or the 'other' reality seems to ignite a space of their own--- just the two of them, creating innumerable possi