Love Letters to Ukraine from Uyava

'Love Letters to Ukraine from Uyava' by Indian-American poet Kalpna Singh-Chitnis consists of sixty-eight wartime poems in English on the current Russia-Ukraine armed conflict. The poetry collection has also been translated into the Ukrainian language titled Любовні листи до України від Уяви by Volodymyr Tymchuk, a Poet, Translator, and Lieutenant Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The entire collection was written and translated, mostly in real-time, only in eight weeks. The poems in this book are meant to create bridges in the hearts of the readers to connect with Ukraine and allow the world to see its heart longing for love, peace, and freedom.'What I particularly cherished in this collection, was the adroit method of combining an appreciation and empathy for a foreign country, alongside Singh-Chitnis’s own heritage and country of origin (India). Perhaps only a polyglot, having lived in multiple countries, with the intentional wisdom of such multiculturalism, can pen such solace. Singh-Chitnis is one such social justice warrior, with her legion of creative directions, her purpose outgrows the ordinary and becomes extraordinary. She is not a mere empath but directly doing battle for others to see inequity and injustice and act. Her words are as much battle cries as they are truths, and she implores the reader to become radically engaged in change. Again, isn’t this the crux of poetry and shouldn’t more of us be able to write outside of our own musings, and infect the hearts of others with a call to action? Whilst I may be a huge confessional poetry fan, I am deeply moved and appreciative of the energies and necessity of raising awareness, beyond the sound-bite of nightly news coverage. In so doing, Singh-Chitnis has conjured up the real people of Ukraine. We see them.' ~ Candice Louisa Daquin, Senior Editor Indie Blu(e) Publishing.