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Untold Journeys
In life everyone seems prettier and more graceful than you. They look happy, successful and carefree. It appears they are having the time of their lives, without a care in the world. It's almost like everyone is more popular, more liked, and more active than you.
But everyone of those people has a chapter in their life they don’t read out loud.
They surround themselves with people, because they are scared to face their demons. Most of the people around them aren’t even their real friends. Those people are just there to make them feel better about themselves. But all of these people who you think are better than you... are actually broken and imperfect. Just like you. You think they don’t see their own flaws? their own imperfections? The things they see within themselves are what your eyes miss. Even they notice that the person walking next to them is prettier.
In the ends its the things within us, that make us more alike than we will ever know.
“Poems are words from the heart, and these are Malaika’s, to share with us all.”
—JACKIE FRENCH
"Malaika Gilani gives heartfelt voice to the experience of growing up and being a teenager in today's world."
—KELLY DOUST
But everyone of those people has a chapter in their life they don’t read out loud.
They surround themselves with people, because they are scared to face their demons. Most of the people around them aren’t even their real friends. Those people are just there to make them feel better about themselves. But all of these people who you think are better than you... are actually broken and imperfect. Just like you. You think they don’t see their own flaws? their own imperfections? The things they see within themselves are what your eyes miss. Even they notice that the person walking next to them is prettier.
In the ends its the things within us, that make us more alike than we will ever know.
“Poems are words from the heart, and these are Malaika’s, to share with us all.”
—JACKIE FRENCH
"Malaika Gilani gives heartfelt voice to the experience of growing up and being a teenager in today's world."
—KELLY DOUST
100 pages, Paperback
About the author
Malaika Gilani
1 book3 followersMalaika Gilani is a passionate fan of the written word. She has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. This includes short stories and poems for her school newsletters and magazines. She is a Pakistani Citizen who currently resides in Melbourne with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 26, 2017
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
‘Untold Journeys’ is a very special and unique collection of poems written by new author, Malaika Gilani. It can be said that each of Gilani’s individual pieces encapsulates a love story waiting to be heard by other people. The author strongly uses her voice to emulate her thoughts onto paper. This intriguing collection of stories allows the reader to reminisce about their own journey. For example, the poem ‘There Are Bonds’ brings forth a very strong response from the reader, with its short, witting and blatant thoughts have a very strong impact towards the reader. I definitely enjoyed Gilani’s written work, especially the way she cleverly personifies the dog in ‘Animal Cruelty’ as a person, wondering if the ‘dog ever [cried],’ or how it feels. Giving the animal such qualities touches on the severity of the issue which, as Gilani insists, must be prevented. In the same poem, the author exemplified a very unique way of depicting the settling. I thought it was very clever of her to say that she could ‘taste the rotten reek.’ This created a very unusual feeling and again encapsulates the very severity of the ongoing global predicament of animal cruelty.
It is quite evident that Gilani’s father is her greatest inspiration, referring directly to him in two poems, ‘Dad’ and ‘Father’s Day.’ I was quite admired by this. The author uses extensive emotive language to produce a delicately written piece that touches the reader’s heart.
Previously, I mentioned that this written piece can be acknowledged as a series of love stories. Gilani presents to the reader a youth’s perception on love. She encapsulates this through describing her love for a significant other; her friends and family; a fallen soldier; and mostly herself. This piece shows the development of a young girl falling in and out of love. Her yearning for someone to listen to her in regards to the central concerns in the book is blatant.
My favourite poem in this collection was definitely ‘FAIR.’ Its sense of patriotism and justice allowed me to feel rage of the outdated traditions that continue to be practiced on a global scale. This intense piece shows the rights of that of a boy in comparison to that of a girl.
Gilani uses a thoughtful and creative process in putting her honest thoughts into words. However, there were very small problems and ambiguities with mostly the structure of her work. Yet small, the grammatical errors in the written piece and the mixture of informal and formal language in a piece bluntly shows the reader of the author’s young age. Furthermore, the back and forth of the formal and informal language became quite confusing. However, I’m sure with great practise and experience Gilani will soon produce another collection of stories for readers to, once again, enjoy.
Altogether, Gilani has cleverly produced a collection of poems that clearly depicts the thoughts of today’s youth and the immense amount of influence other people, of all ages, have towards them. Aside from grammatical errors in the structure of each poem, I still felt as though the writer’s voice has once and for all finally been heard. I hope through more experience, Gilani is able to bring her community, as well as those outside of her community, a more insightful glance of the perception of the youth.
Good luck to Malaika as she battles through life and bravely battles the demons that reside in both her thoughts and the world.
‘Untold Journeys’ is a very special and unique collection of poems written by new author, Malaika Gilani. It can be said that each of Gilani’s individual pieces encapsulates a love story waiting to be heard by other people. The author strongly uses her voice to emulate her thoughts onto paper. This intriguing collection of stories allows the reader to reminisce about their own journey. For example, the poem ‘There Are Bonds’ brings forth a very strong response from the reader, with its short, witting and blatant thoughts have a very strong impact towards the reader. I definitely enjoyed Gilani’s written work, especially the way she cleverly personifies the dog in ‘Animal Cruelty’ as a person, wondering if the ‘dog ever [cried],’ or how it feels. Giving the animal such qualities touches on the severity of the issue which, as Gilani insists, must be prevented. In the same poem, the author exemplified a very unique way of depicting the settling. I thought it was very clever of her to say that she could ‘taste the rotten reek.’ This created a very unusual feeling and again encapsulates the very severity of the ongoing global predicament of animal cruelty.
It is quite evident that Gilani’s father is her greatest inspiration, referring directly to him in two poems, ‘Dad’ and ‘Father’s Day.’ I was quite admired by this. The author uses extensive emotive language to produce a delicately written piece that touches the reader’s heart.
Previously, I mentioned that this written piece can be acknowledged as a series of love stories. Gilani presents to the reader a youth’s perception on love. She encapsulates this through describing her love for a significant other; her friends and family; a fallen soldier; and mostly herself. This piece shows the development of a young girl falling in and out of love. Her yearning for someone to listen to her in regards to the central concerns in the book is blatant.
My favourite poem in this collection was definitely ‘FAIR.’ Its sense of patriotism and justice allowed me to feel rage of the outdated traditions that continue to be practiced on a global scale. This intense piece shows the rights of that of a boy in comparison to that of a girl.
Gilani uses a thoughtful and creative process in putting her honest thoughts into words. However, there were very small problems and ambiguities with mostly the structure of her work. Yet small, the grammatical errors in the written piece and the mixture of informal and formal language in a piece bluntly shows the reader of the author’s young age. Furthermore, the back and forth of the formal and informal language became quite confusing. However, I’m sure with great practise and experience Gilani will soon produce another collection of stories for readers to, once again, enjoy.
Altogether, Gilani has cleverly produced a collection of poems that clearly depicts the thoughts of today’s youth and the immense amount of influence other people, of all ages, have towards them. Aside from grammatical errors in the structure of each poem, I still felt as though the writer’s voice has once and for all finally been heard. I hope through more experience, Gilani is able to bring her community, as well as those outside of her community, a more insightful glance of the perception of the youth.
Good luck to Malaika as she battles through life and bravely battles the demons that reside in both her thoughts and the world.
July 9, 2018
I was offered an ebook copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.
I feel like Malaika Gilani is a young poet who has a lot to say with this passionate collection about love and loss, and will only improve as a poet in time.
That said, this collection was not for me. It has a hard rhyme scheme that I kept getting caught up in and distracted by as it felt forced at times and didn't always benefit the poem. The rhyme is, however, consistent throughout most of collection, so if you're a fan of rhyming poetry this might be something you'd enjoy. Toward the end there were some poems that I liked better which had a political or speculative lean, though they're scattered in here and there. "Autumn Leaf" was one that I liked more, but there is a lot of rhyme and repetition before that, so it didn't really sway my feelings about the collection as a whole.
I feel like Malaika Gilani is a young poet who has a lot to say with this passionate collection about love and loss, and will only improve as a poet in time.
That said, this collection was not for me. It has a hard rhyme scheme that I kept getting caught up in and distracted by as it felt forced at times and didn't always benefit the poem. The rhyme is, however, consistent throughout most of collection, so if you're a fan of rhyming poetry this might be something you'd enjoy. Toward the end there were some poems that I liked better which had a political or speculative lean, though they're scattered in here and there. "Autumn Leaf" was one that I liked more, but there is a lot of rhyme and repetition before that, so it didn't really sway my feelings about the collection as a whole.
July 10, 2019
Can’t get enough of this book the poetry is so well written and beautiful
July 10, 2019
Absolutely amazing! Adored it!
July 10, 2019
One of the best poetry books I've ever read. This one's a keeper!
July 10, 2019
Nice stuff!
July 10, 2019
Good stuff! Absolutely amazing!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews