New Book Alert: The If Way: The Power of 100 Ifs by Imagine Singh; Poetry of Imaginative and Clever Possibilities

 

New Book Alert: The If Way: The Power of 100 Ifs by Imagine Singh; Poetry of Imaginative and Clever Possibilities 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Imagine Singh is the type of poet who loves to dream up different possibilities and put them into words. That is exactly what he does in his book, The If Way The Power of 100's. This book is a series of poems that imagine different scenarios.

Singh's poems are very pleasant and clever, somewhat reminiscent of Dr. Seuss by way of Lewis Carroll. They start with a an idea such as "If Time Reserved Its Direction." Then the stanzas ruminate on what could happen in that scenario.("The old would be young and/The young would be children./The population of the world now in billions/Would turn into some millions.") Each poem is like that.

Even though the format is the same for each poem, the ideas that Singh writes about keep each poem appear fresh and new as well  as fun engaging. Titles range from "If the Question is Q" to "If We Could Touch Emotions." Topics range from geography ("If All Countries Could Be One"), science ("If All Magnets Suddenly Disappeared Into Thin Air"), biology ("If We Could See With Our Ears and Listen With Our Eyes"), animals ("If Animals Had The Power To Think"), weather ("If We Could Swap Seasons Between Different Regions"), history ("If We Could Witness The Past As Time Flies"), economics ("If We Were All Very Rich and No One Was Poor"), families ("If We Could Become Our Parents For One Day"), and interconnectivity ("If Everybody Listened To Us It Would All Be Very Nice.") among others.

The poems rhyme scheme are simple rhyming couplets that would attract younger Readers. For example, "If We Circled The Earth and Lived On The Moon's" opening lines are "If we circked the Earth and lived on the moon/We might not like to come back to Earth anytime soon." 

There is also some lovely imagery that activates the senses. The poem, "If Colors Could Express Themselves In Words"  is rich with lines like "Red would be the loudest of all/And black would be the proudest of all/Indigo, somewhat depressed, would most of the times be a little bit snappy/Violet, somewhat bright would always be happy." The rhyme scheme and imagery help contribute to making these poems a delightful reading experience.

The possibilities that Singh imagined are filled with interesting scenarios that almost evoke a dream state. The poem, "If We Lived Undersea" describes the wealthy having air pools, and residents fighting with octopuses and racing with fish. Singh clearly had a wonderful time dreaming up these possibilities. It would be an interesting educational experience for teachers to use this book to have students write their own possibilities of things that they would like to see in the world.

While most of the poems evoke a sense of fun, childlike situations, and fantasy, some of Singh's poems strike at the very heart of social commentary. One poem, "If We Could Have A Cure For Human Lust, Greed, and Hate," is blunt but meaningful. "There would be no crimes against humanity/Good sense and love would prevail against insanity/Women would lead a life of dignity and grace/Every man would be humanity's englightened face." Even though, it would be hard to implement such change in reality, nothing can or should stop one from dreaming, imagining, visualizing, or writing about it. 

In The If Way, Singh opens a world of dreams and possibilities and invites the Reader to come along. Sometimes the dream world is better, brighter, and more evocative than the real world. Imagine Singh gives a wonderful tour into his.