Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dark, seductive and scintillating is how I'd define Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. Before I read it, I always thought Pablo Neruda was too much of a realist for me, too real to ever be my kind of a poet.Of course I was wrong and am I glad I was wrong! Because at the time I read this, I didn't want anything remotely like poetry. I didn't want to think too much or draw any analogies. I just wanted to read something that made me feel beautiful, calm and happy from within which this little book did. It was like dark chocolate on an empty stomach and a tasteless tongue or the fragrance of frangipani at night. Yes, I know I am getting too carried away like I always do when I review poetry but, honestly, go read it and tell me, wasn't it just as rich and seductive for you as it was for me? I'd love to be proven wrong again! Neruda gives you scope for error unlike some prudish poets of the past.Complicated in a simple way, Neruda is SO my kind of a poet!

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