O' Beloved, the Heart Sings

O’ beloved, the heart sings; listen to my heart sing! It has no words, no notes, no rhythm. From where does it get its melody, poor thing? Madhu Kailas’s O’ Beloved, the Heart Sings is an inspired collection of 100 love poems that grieve and celebrate a distant beloved. The lovelorn poet figure variously meditates upon the moon, yearns in eternal wait, speaks to himself as a madman, prays, and weeps—moving ultimately from anguish to tranquillity in a masterfully orchestrated sequence. Written in the spirit of an alap in a Hindustani classical raga, the collection inches towards a fantastic final discovery—that the heart must go on singing.