Born A Free Spirit

by Harshita Gottipati

"Beautiful is every fragment of this transcendence,
As it carefully mimes the reality of an imagination,
It’s a scene unfolding on the surface,
nesting chaos within."

What’s so great about love? Simple, it’s a blissfully powerful emotion that rules our lives.

What’s so great about being in love? It did funny things to me, and out came these beautifully framed poems.

Come share this magic with me. Magic of love, grind of a pain and the pleasure of reconnecting with oneself.

Born A Free Spirit is about a woman falling in love. A colorful world of butterflies turned into a tight knot in her stomach during a break-up, she picks herself up. Deciding to stay afloat, she journeys a path of self-acceptance and falls in love with nature.

This poetic journey is of a woman who believes that one cannot have a complete life if they just stay and go with the usual norms.

During the toughest of the times while battling within self and when being misunderstood by others, these words were of the strongest support, comfort and strength. Hopefully, they would help the reader find their inner strength, add another perspective to the emotions within, lead to self-understanding and live a better life.

This is a celebration of love, sorrow and nature – and everything in between.

"Making me wonder if the paper plane got lost in the storm of the noise.
Making me wonder if the dart hit the eye or missed to fall off the board.
Making me wonder if the paper boat couldn't adjust its sails to kiss the ocean well."

Genres: Poetry

175 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2019

About the author

What about the author? She`s funny and witty, likes to watch movies, reading books, loves eating and sleeping. When awake she drinks coffee and enjoys writing. Until a posh established critic finds her, this… is Harshita. Let the poems in Born A Free Spirit speak for her.

Reviews

[mwana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection of poems that the author describes as "the process of falling in love". Some poems have a soothing simple complexity such as A Wild Love. Others were so saccharine I'm surprised I didn't get diabetes. And others are just my type of whimsy.

Who best to give your kiss to,
Thank to a lovely cup of coffee,
when you are single?
What happens between you
and your cup of coffee,
Remains between you
and your cup of coffee

The book is divided into three parts Season of Love, Falling Apart and RISING AGAIN: "the Phoenix. Which are pretty self-explanatory. My copy had some very beautiful illustrations as well and the cover is just divine.

My favourite poem was A Grand Hall

If you ever manage to open it,
You will find a grand hall of darkness.
Look for me there...
Where your heart echoes mine.

It's emo, dramatic af and speaks to the vantablack abyss of my soul.

Thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Praveen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Loving you is nothing less than a fiction of art,
A fantasy lived on the clouds.
A home built away from the feel of a touch.
A hug felt afar as a dream." -Harshita Gottipatti

This is a book of poetry by a young poetess Harshita.
She begins this poetry book with a poem dedicated to her morning companion. She spent and enjoyed the hot and cupful camaraderie with this companion when no one was around her. She gives her best kisses to this companion when she is single. Not a bad idea at the beginning of this book! It’s top-secret.

"What happens between you
and your cup of coffee
remains between you
and your cup of coffee"

She is talking about her cup of coffee and says that coffee is her oasis.

This poetry collection has been divided into three parts, each part containing thirty-odd poems. In the first part SEASON OF LOVE, There are poems about love and passion. In the second part FALLING APART you will find the feud and fight and heartbreak between lovers. And the third there is THE RISING AGAIN, the verses of realizations, she sought solace from tough times. This part was
like an expression as a chance to succor!

In the first part, the author has been able to convey her feelings of love, passion, and heartbreak in a simple yet sensuous and endearing manner to a reader. The warmth of intimacy between lovers is written in a perspicuous manner.

Love your lover till he is worn out with all the excuses, a sense of love will be imbued with a sense of love only,

"I’ll love you until you run out
of the reasons to not love me,
And then, I’ll love you a little more."

She defines the wild love

"A wild love,
is
a bit scary,
a bit painful,
a bit exciting,
a bit comforting,
All at the same time!"

She deciphers the foreplay,

“Whoever said foreplay is overrated
Didn’t feel their skin go from fire to ice and ice to water
Just by a touch”

I found sensuality and passion both hand in hand in some of the poems. The poem "My Cupcake" is one such poem where she had inferred the passion through cupcake quite well.

In the second part, I liked the poems "pea brain" and the "enemy within". and here is one where the author defines herself after the feud with titles "That's me",

"Did you kiss the poison?
Is it in your veins?

Oh, dear! dear! then,
What are you waiting for?

Go celebrate that you have
survived the poison,
and, when there is every time
when you miss me ...

Remember there is a piece of me
running in your veins.."


In the third part, the verse goes sanguine in nature, it sermonizes on a positive note that if you find yourself in a ditch, don't mistake it for ruin. And there are poems showing that reclaiming life was never an easy task. There is a come back with confidence, some formidable pronouncements,

"Walk that off girl
Twerk it off
Twerk it all"

I liked the poem 'Brother of code', about the fishermen,

“ Who are singing with the waves
And smiling with the thunder"

In the poems ‘The flower and spider”, where they both talked to each other."Homes", "Existence", and "Perspective" were some poems where I could dwell on a little longer. The style is free verse with a digestible poetic flow maintained even for a naïve poetry reader. She frees her poems with her stamp.

"Worry not my dear poem, This space fits
your wings just right
write the wanted and shed the unwanted
My dear poem, by the author vested in me
I now pronounce you a free poem."

If you ask me, I have liked this poetry collection with some drawings made by the author. I can not find fault with the poems that are written by someone to comfort oneself and not with an intention to create a book as the author has stated in the preface.

I will only suggest to the author that her poems are beautifully expressed in free verse, and the only thing that could have been done better was the editing and presentation. It may easily look more orderly and well-groomed if given a bit of professional touch in editing.

[Shatarupa Dhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis:
Born A Free Spirit is a collection of roughly one hundred and twenty-five poems and thoughts, divided into the following three sections:
Season of Love
Falling Apart
Rising Again: "the Phoenix"

The poems express emotions ranging from love, whether for coffee or a fellow human, to finding love, letting it go, and then finding yourself.

Review:
I believe in any collection/anthology, not all the poems/stories are perfect. Everyone's definition of perfect is different. Some poems are not for everyone while not all can touch even the surface of the depth of emotion a particular poem conveys. While some of them will make you fall in love, some are a little disappointing. I will always say that poetry cannot be really reviewed because it is someone's emotions that have been converted into words. Maybe some of them weren't for me, though I did appreciate reading the rest of them. I'm just stating my general observations regarding this collection.

Some of the poems are untitled and read more like thoughts/musings, while some are short and others are long. Some didn't make sense, or maybe I couldn't derive any metaphorical meaning where the literal didn't make sense to me. Some are so rhythmic that I wanted to compose them. Some of the poems have my heart while some of them made me feel odd. It was the use of words, the vocabulary as well as the (in)correct usage of it, which didn't just gel well with the essence of that particular poem.

Some of the poems make you love a little more, some are passionate, some speak of second chances, some express hurt and yet there is this inherent strength of character that shines through.

Special mention to the wonderful illustrations that the poetess has done herself. And while I may not be an established critic (I hope Harshita finds one soon...), I have tried my best to articulate the thoughts that ran through me as I read these poems.

Thank you to the poet for a review copy of the book.

Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars for this book.


-The first poem is a cute one but definitely not something you can put as the first impression for the reader. In my opinion, the first poems should be one of the most striking to capture the attention of readers like me. Since that's what I notice in the poetry books I've read. It didn't capture mine to the least but I'll finish this for my anticipation to find savoury ones here.
-In addition, there is quiet a lot of usage of a word in one poem. I think it would be best to lessen it to not spoil the mood. I'm referring to the coffee one which really disappoints me since it is the very first one.
-I am not sure since I am not an English expert, but I think there are a number of a mistakes here.

-Some of the poems are elegantly improving the more poems you encounter. And honestly, I love some of them.
-I must say some of the metaphors used are striking and fresh.
-Unlike other poetry I come across, I can really call this a poetry book because of it being long and not just one-two sentences. Though it does depends upon the concept but this one is satisfactory, too.
-If I rate the parts of the book one by one, the first&second part would be 3 stars, and the last part would be 4 stars.

Conclusion:
This is a decent poetry book. I especially love the third part of the book. However, I can't say it's perfect since I notice some mistakes, some poems didn't amaze me but some really do. Though overall I like it.
Would I recommend it? Yes and no. I would recommend it for the 3rd part. Was I so hyped about it? Not so.

But if you're looking for a poetry book, this is worth a try!

[SusanAhh · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Underestimating a moment's place in our lives is simply overlooking the power it packs to motion a chain of events that chances a ‘forever’. Just keep looking!!!” – Harshita

I am delighted to begin my book-reviewing in 2020 with this lovely book of poetry by Harshita Gottipati. It is story of romance, love, self-discovery told in clever and moving verse. This is Ms. Gottipati’s first published book of poetry and it is “out the door” a 5-star read!

Not every poem spoke to me…but the ones that did, hit their mark true in my heart and/or stirred my passions, excited my imagination, or simply moved me. For even one second of this precious experience of being “moved” by a creative grouping of words expressing ideas, emotions and impressions of reality I would give a poet and did give this poet, 5 stars. In truth, I found "hours" of delight.

One element of Harshita's poetry is the clever crafting of words that show her playfulness and intelligence. The book begins with this verse from the first poem.

“In a desert where nothing is near sight,
And everything is far sight,”- Harshita, “COFFEE, MY OASIS”

Who hasn’t felt the blank desert of thought in their mind trying to awake from slumber? Of course that first cup of coffee, the oasis. And so the story begins. For it is indeed, a “story”, a romance, a discovery, told with the artistry and license of a poet.

Desire, longing, joy, passion, pain and heartbreak return to you, the reader like “familiars” while you absorb not only the crafty word-play but also the elevated art in Harshita’s verse. Her verse intersects the common with the erudite, simple thoughts blend with complex thinking reaching for the simplicity on the other side of complexity. BTW...to my thinking...poets make no errors in grammar or syntax. It is silly to critique a poem for any of these type language rules.

My favorite poems include:

MY LOCKS
AN UNUSUAL PROMISE
HOME
TRUE
GIRL, WALK THAT OFF
LOVE'S RUINS
A BLOSSOMED FLOWER

These poems made me think and/or made me feel. I heard a woman breaking through all the sh-t the world sometimes gives female energy. I even felt a touch of the Divine.

My absolute favorite poem from Born A Free Spirit is quoted here:

A HAUNTING PRESENCE

This taunt of a presence
you settle around me,
I wonder if you need me so desperate,
So eternally searching in the tangles
that you so charmingly spread around.

A walk, a touch or even a glance
beneath the still waters.
Every shade of mine,
every streak of warmth resides,
Just there, you know?

This agonizing pull you
draw from underneath,
Brings out something unknown
as though a trigger is set,
A callous carefree assurance
of this presence.

Then, what am I to make of
the surprise in your eyes?
Even at the slightest caress of your lip
on my cheek,
Crazily dangerously hovering around me.

A beautiful rhythmic step in step,
demanding my scared attention,
Every time, every single time,
sketching lines on my skin,
I open my arms as you sink your love
and affection in me.

Now to steal a metaphor from this poet, poetry is much like an oasis for all of us in this world, a modern jungle and jumble that forces us to grind, toil, survive, protect our loves hopefully with civility and care. I dare say most of us, as wee ones, had our first experiences learning language through rhyme and song. Daily, the poetry of musical lyrics dance in our ears whether live or remembered from a favorite song. Many prayers are often in verse.

Romantic literature will always be my great love, my addiction even. Poetry has for me, a somewhat more elevated status in my mind and heart. It holds the beauty of truth…real truth. The truth may be in and of itself an ugly reality. But to capture feeling, emotions, and impressions with words like a camera captures an image, a photograph, even if taken in a “dark place” and have it sink into your reality, intelligence and heart…this is beautiful. There is a redeeming quality to this exchange for both poet and reader.

Truth…a hard commodity to come by in these days…but I digress.

For those of us who like to savor the brilliance of words that move you, delight you and allow you to contemplate anything or everything; perhaps, begin again or begin anew, I encourage you to grab Born A Free Spiritand tuck it into your kindle. I have read this collection four times over and keep finding nuances and thought treasure.

This brand-new poet had the courage to see her dream come true in her first published book and how lovely the ultimate result. Harshita, I wish you continued success and hope to read more of your work in the future.

I received an ARC of which I requested from the author. Thank you! I then purchased the book because frankly she deserves the support! Probably will purchase the physical book because it has a beautiful cover. I will love seeing it on my library shelves. Oh, and Harshita did the lovely illustrations throughout. (She never illustrated a book before nor has she ever compiled her poetry into a book…I admire her courage in taking these first daunting steps putting herself, her heart, her art out into the world. Such bravery! An inspiration for all!
I think I will, you could too!😉 make it a goal in 2020 to do something you or I have never done before no matter how big or small?

[Elle Bor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5tars

Born a Free Spirit by Harshita Gottipati treads the often murky line between poetry and personal chronicles but is certainly not void of heart and soul. It is the reason why I kept reading.

The book launches with a heartfelt message to a loved one that is not easy to decipher if you read between the lines. That makes it a language only the author and this person can connect with and so did I. I found the whole collection an amalgam of formal poetic language and cogitations penned with as much writing freedom and courage the author can put out to the world.

I can see how other readers would probe this book with less charisma than I am capable of and that is because the first poem doesn’t seem to be a statement piece, worthy of igniting a page turn. But with a little understanding of the writer’s mission and broad view of the book’s format, you will come to know that this is an evolution of both the author’s writing prowess and emotional aptitude to deal with the events that shaped her soul and path. I welcomed this unconventional storytelling.


Born a Free Spirit is a brave account of Ms. Gottipati’s resilience. There were moments when I recalled my own similar experience and agreed that this was how I would have written it at that age. The pieces are unrelenting and also raw in words and composition. I found some concerns with cohesiveness that a lot of poets often still achieve even with the random components we see here. Yet underneath that, something else is yet to blossom. There is more growth to be had, one that is meant to be even more beautiful given what the author already possesses in her writing artillery.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Born A Free Spirit is definitely a stretch for my taste and reading preferences. I like poetry, but I lean towards the Bukowski side in the poetry section. So, I’m writing this for readers who enjoy and seek out love poems, women’s fiction, and romance-gone-wrong stories. The author was true to her theme and did not wander off in areas that weren’t consistent with the story. It makes for a tightly structured collection (over a hundred poems-I’m guessing because there was no table of contents).

The story is ancient, the sort of reverse Hallmark Romance. It could have been named The Three Stages of a Doomed Romance.

I admire how Gottipati had each poem's title say it all in one line and then deliver on the promise. She uses a free verse form without any apparent strictures or rules. It’s the rhythm of the author’s own making, a flow of her voice which is enjoyable and interesting when it works, disappointing when it doesn’t.

The collection begins with the bliss of new love in Seasons of Love. Slowly little hints of cracks in the relationship appear, starting with the Charming Ways poem. The desire is still there but it becomes darker, sharing sadness and tears in In Love, Eternally.

The next poem, Existence, brings to fore the sense of compromise and sublimation and loss of self-identity felt by the narrator. There are more signs of trouble in The Light of Trust and the first section ends with A Second Chance, another example of the good use of titles.

One complaint about Season of Love was that the narrator’s love interest was never on the page as more than “you.” That makes it easy for some readers to add the details of their choice. For me, the romance felt one-sided. There was little in the way of intellectual intimacy and the physical intimacy was generic kissing and touching, nothing to leave a strong impression.

The second section, Falling Apart, introduces a few familiar curse words. It didn’t bother me and the profanity wasn’t excessive, but it might turn off some readers.

This middle part is a rollercoaster of emotions, the ups and downs when a romance turns toxic. It’s full of recriminations, regrets, and a desire for revenge. My Locks is a good example of the conflict within the narrator; she’s changed her locks but she can’t deny her heart what it wants.

An Unusual Promise offers a glimmer of hope when the narrator embraces the ache of love lost and begins the transition to the next section, Rising Again.

Of this last group of poems, I thought A Scripted Event and Girl, Walk That Off, were the best at capturing that weird space where the relationship is dead, but you’re not finished with the grieving process.

Best line: Girl let shame be your biggest win.

Overall, there are two areas where I felt the writing was weak and they are somewhat related—word choice and spelling/grammar. There were many times when a certain word or a grammatical anomaly ruined the poem or image. I have to admit I don’t know the meaning of “a ‘could’ much” which showed up a few times. I could find no definition of it anywhere.

Gottipati has written a collection of poems that are easily accessible and takes the reader through the full experience of a broken and then mended heart.

[Gene Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Born a Free Spirit” is poetry collection, accented with pieces of art from the author. There’s a nice flow to the pieces and the formatting is impressive. The pieces touch on love, nature, and life -- large themes handled with a graceful, human touch. And the paintings are nice, too!

[Harshita]

"For the bond between us is stronger than destiny,
and deeper than a naked eye!"

[S.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of free verse poetry. The first two-thirds of the poems chronicle the birth, blossoming and death of first love. They are followed by the recovery.
The poems are short.
Easy to read and understand.
Both painfully naive and poignant as innocence is lost.
This is the first book of poetry I've read since school. I liked that the collection told a story and the poems improved as the poet matured. There are some lovely phrases and complex concepts as the poet began to master her craft. Overall, if you like poetry and would like to see the genesis of a new poet, this is the book for you.
I give this a 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.