June 29, 2020March 22, 2021 2min readBy Neena Abraham
Purple Sunset book review
Before diving into “Purple Sunset,” a self-published compilation of 74 poems discussing love, life, and loss, I was struck by the irony of the author’s name, Noor, becauseshe was a poet who also happened to have a poetic name.
Like many names of Arabic and Urdu origin, Noor carries a beautiful meaning. It denotes ‘light,’ ‘illumination’ and ‘radiance.’ Unlike light coming from burning wood, Noor is a soothing light, one that emerges from a divine and cosmic source; the kind of light to illuminate a path.
If Noor’s name was any indication of what I was about to read, I had a feeling this book was about to shed light on the obscured wisdom lodged within me, and help me see the world, and myself, in a different way.
A 15-year labor of love, “Purple Sunset” is an elegant collection of poems that puts fresh spins on familiar themes like relationships, survival, nature, and hope. In this book, you will read about protecting your heart, finding answers within yourself, and celebrating the world’s unappreciated miracles. One thing you will glean from Noor’s book is that love is hard-earned. You will also follow a female narrator reckoning with her own creation, asking “Why, life? Why did you give me this pain? What was it I am supposed to learn?” Sclafani uses every word and line break to give a satisfactory taste of insight and reminds us to embrace pain as understanding.
There is something in “Purple Sunset” for everyone, whether you are the woman warrior, the sensitive soul, the nomad, or the recovering lover. My absolute favorite poems include “A Thousand,” “I Said,” “Dirt,” “Change” and “Shattered,” where the triumphs in survival and the strength of a woman are celebrated. Noor’s strengths are her love poems (“I’ll Admit”), but her empowerment poems also hold their own (“Slingshot’” and “Let Go”).
Existential dread is a common sentiment among today’s generation. With the deluge of COVID-19, racism, economic uncertainty, I often hear people our age ask, “Where is all this headed?” For first-generation Americans, a people caught in limbo between two worlds, this question is doubly resonant. Noor’s poems speak to this internal crisis. Like many good writers, Sclafani finds a way to reframe the world’s hopelessness into a world worth living for, one that is constantly talking to you, teaching you lessons, and asking you to pay attention. Her style is uplifting and in our times, necessary. I encourage all interested readers to purchase Sclafani’s self-published book. As someone who gambled on herself and pursued the non-traditional route, Noor deserves the Brown Girl community’s support. I sincerely believe she worked hard to shine a light on transcendent truisms in a soothing and joyful manner, and I encourage all readers to check out her work and support her artistic journey.
You can purchase Purple Sunset from Amazon. Keep up with Noor Sclafani’s work on Twitter and Instagram!
“Confessions to a Moonless Sky” is a meditation on the new moon and guilt. I wrote it when I was living in Dallas and was driving back from a dusk prayer. The new moon terrified me on that drive. I was diseased by the knowledge that my partner, at the time, had seen the worst parts of me. There’s immense shame in this piece—it seized my self-image. If the moon could become brand new, then I could start over.
I often ponder on the moon’s reflective nature and pairs of eyes. I’m hyper-fixated on how I am seen by others. Unfortunately, the brilliance of seeing your reflection in another person leads to negativity. After all, those who are too keen on their own reflection are the same people who suffer from it. It is possible to use shame to fuel one’s retribution and personal growth, without becoming consumed by it.
We can look to Shah Rukh Khan succumbing to alcoholism in his own sorrow and then later imbibing his sadness in Chandramukhi. “Confessions to a Moonless Sky” is a lesson for us: Don’t be Shah Rukh Khan in Devdas, instead embody pre-incarnation Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om!
Sometimes when the moon abandons the sky, I wonder if I drove her away.
If she comes back, will she be the same? How I wish she would come back new, truly new! That way she’d have no memory of the sin I’ve confessed to her. You noxious insect. Sin-loving, ego-imbibing pest. You are no monster, for at least a monster has ideology, it sins with purpose. You sin just to chase ignominy.
But the moon won’t say that, she never does. She’ll just leave the sky and return days later, slowly. And I’ll wonder if she’s new, perhaps she won’t remember my past confessions. What does it matter? Were the moon replaced with one from a different god, I’d drive her away, too.
NAKED: The Honest Musings of 2 Brown Women was born in the autumn of 2018, when Mimi Mutesa and Selvi M. Bunce began sharing their poetry collections. It was scary, beautiful, and terrifying when they decided to trust each other with their most intimate thoughts. Not only did they feel relieved after doing so, but Selvi and Mimi also felt more seen as women of color. They embarked on their publication journey, so others may feel as seen as they did on that fateful autumn.
“Ingrown Hair” deals with the themes of societal and family pressures that are reflected throughout NAKED. Mimi and Selvi have always written for themselves. They see poetry as an outlet, and their poems exemplify their personal frustration and vulnerability. “Ingrown Hair” speaks to Selvi’s experience with the societal pressures of South Asian women, such as getting married, being a good wife, becoming a good mother, and leading a certain kind of life.
There is something strange beneath my skin
telling me to build a house,
make a home,
mother children.
I am not sure how to reconcile it.
My mother was strong
and a mother after all.
My philosophy has been to spend my time
on myself and the world.
I have always thought
I could simply address the thing under my skin
when it finally crawled out.
But when my family starts guessing
who will get married first, and my father
has been saving wedding money for years,
I begin to wonder
if I will have to pluck it out.
The opinions expressed by the guest writer/blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Brown Girl Magazine, Inc., or any employee thereof. Brown Girl Magazine is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the guest writer/bloggers. This work is the opinion of the blogger. It is not the intention of Brown Girl Magazine to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. If you’d like to submit a guest post, please follow the guidelines we’ve set forth here.
I organize play dates for my children. They’re friendships remind me of when I was younger when Fridays were consistently set aside for my friends. Now, it seems play is indeed meant for childhood and work is for aging adults. We often can’t find time for ourselves, let alone our friends, who are busy working mothers like ourselves. Or we moved into unreachable corners of this globe, far away from any means of physical communication. It’s fair to say, it’s hard to stay close to friends like when we were in college. Nowadays, it’s easier to travel, but more difficult to bond with others. “My Friend” asserts that we should not end let our friendships fall by the wayside. Even with physical distance and conflicting schedules, we keep our friendships close with kind words on phone calls, regular FaceTime calls, or even encouraging social media comments. Friendship doesn’t end once we become adults.
The opinions expressed by the guest writer/blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Brown Girl Magazine, Inc., or any employee thereof. Brown Girl Magazine is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the guest writer/bloggers. This work is the opinion of the blogger. It is not the intention of Brown Girl Magazine to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. If you’d like to submit a guest post, please follow the guidelines we’ve set forth here.
