Jamila Abbas’ Between the Lines of a Photograph: An Ode to Memory and Loss
By Paul Liam Jamila Abbas’ Between the Lines of a Photograph explores the intricate intersection between memory and loss. It x-rays the subliminal emotions of love, pain, and loss symbolically represented by the metaphor of a photograph. A photograph is a mirror into the past, present, and future, it is a representation of our happy and sad moments as we journey through life in search of meaning and purpose. The collection forges an evocative metaphor of nostalgic narratives embodying its subject's memories through a photograph's prism. Thus, between the lines of a photograph lies a rich repertoire of memories discernible only through a careful examination and recollection of past experiences. Abbas presupposes that poetry is akin to a photograph with multiple layers of meaning and interpretation. Consequently, it suffices to posit that, nostalgia, love, and loss constitute the larger leitmotif of the collection, in each poem, we encounter a strand of one of these themes thro...