'Sea of Strangers', Lang Leav

Rating: 6/10

Overall Thoughts

I've always loved Lang Leav's poetry, especially Memories.  She typically writes of love and loss, grief and healing, power and weakness.  However, unlike her previous books, Sea of Strangers takes readers through a journey of self-love and self-discovery; it highlights empowerment and being strong without the need of a relationship. 

Favourites from 'Sea of Strangers'

"There are days when the melancholy settles on you like a sudden change in weather.  The kind of sadness that is intangible.  Like the presence of an ache where you can't pinpoint exactly where it hurts, you just know it does."

***

"Men don't compare us with other women.  They compare us to an ideal." 

***

"I though of you with

my heart already broken; 

I thought of you

as it was breaking again.  

I think of you now, 

as I am healing.  

With somebody new - 

I'll think of you then."  

***

"When you don't have the whole attention of someone, 

you find yourself begging for it from everyone."

***

"If they were meant to be in your life, nothing could ever make them leave.  If they weren't, nothing in the world could make them stay."

***

"I shed my past like layers of skin.  I let them fall at my feet like discarded clothing.  

I pay my dues and make amends for the sins of my youth.  

I step out from the shadows and into the light, naked and free.  

I can hear my spirit singing.  I can feel my wings unfolding.  

And the sky is calling my name."

***

"It's possible to move on from someone even if your heart refuses to let go.  And it's not something you need to consciously do.  It will just happen gradually, over time.  The ache will always be there, but the intensity will fade, and you'll find other beautiful things to fill your days with."

***

"If there is someone else for you now, then why do you linger here?
We've said our goodbyes, but your eyes won't let me go.  
I can see it on your face, everything you have ever felt for me.  
My name is still written there, a trial in permanent ink, a transcript of your heart."

***

"I have moved so far away from you that I have become a myth; a lie you tell yourself each night.  I am the one true thing you've held in the palm of your hand, the key to everything you wanted.  

Your name smiles at me from a crumpled envelope, addressed to the past.  Unsent and unseen,  Inside I wrote you a story about the moon, how night after night the darkness carved at the pale curve of her body until she became half the woman she was.

There is a word that hurts my heart - one I don't ever say out loud.  Like the shadow that lingers in the light, I can't separate myself from your memory.  But there are some nights when I look up at the sky, and the moon is whole again."

***

"Today I feel small - looked down on and disregarded.  My thoughts are of little importance.  My words have no bearing on the weight of the world.  I am tired of being taken for granted.  If only I could get back a fraction of what I give.  But my efforts go unnoticed, and my soul keeps wishing to be noticed, to be valued; to be understood."

***

"There was a time when I felt everything there was to feel with you.  From blinding rage to bitter jealously; searing love to utter despair.  And then, the worst one of all - sweet, irrational hope - like a hypnotic melody leading me to the edge of a cliff. 

Here I am on the other side, the baptism of every human emotion.  What happens after you feel everything there is to feel?  Somehow, there is a sense of comfort in knowing nothing will ever hit me quite as hard again.  Nothing will ever be as beautiful, but neither will anything hurt as much."