Serendipity is book of poetry by Samantha Modica that captures love and heartbreak in vivid detail. Her use of allusion and metaphor allows her stories to reach out to the reader. Her poems read almost like a novel, mini snapshots of a larger story that lingers in each line. With each piece, the reader learns a little bit more about the author as well as themselves.
This book grabbed my interest with its words of hope and love, but it kept me with its gritty, raw quality. Modica writes from the heart, expressing the good and bad sides of relationships, stories of broken hearts and those who mended them. She tells her tale in phases, from beginnings to renewal, and the reader is brought along in her journey.
We start in phase I, beginnings. In poem 4, we see love and hope and possibility. She envies the necessity of clouds, the way they mesmerize and hold such power. In one of my favorites lines from the book, she says:
“how powerful it would be to be so delicate yet so destructive.”
In poem 20, I feel like she became me, spilling thoughts that so often go through my mind. In phase II, disturbances, she touches on agony and absence and the need to be understood. In phase III, awakenings, Modica speaks in terms of experiences and nature. Hard times are not forgotten, but there is a strength that exists in each line, a deep breath of possibility. Phase IV, revive, reminds me of acceptance. This section is raw and honest, acknowledging the downside of love and relationships, while pushing the reader to admit responsibility and move on. In poem 75, she writes,
“But those memories are your own; Don’t pawn them off to a soul who doesn’t want to remember.”
In the last phase, renew, we see hope. There is the admittance that love is hard, but also that love is worth it. Modica uses gritty truths to illustrate the ups and downs, and the need to embrace lessons and move forward. I would definitely recommend this book. Modica has an excellent grip on emotion and logic. She is me. I am her. And this book of poetry tells a story that I believe all readers will love.
Five stars.
