In Lullabies by Lang Leav she begins by talking about her book saying, “I imagine it to be a bedside table kind of book–hopefully, one that you will pick up on some windy, restless night and it will sing you to sleep.”

The book is split up into three chapters, “Duet,” “Interlude,” and “Finale.” Chapter one, “Duet,” is about the past relationships a person can have, all the looking back and memories for a multitude of relationship combined into one chapter. “Interlude” is a small chapter only composed of 7 poems boarding on narrative instead of poetry. The last chapter, “Finale,” is about the aftermath or relationships, with titles like, “A cautionary tale,” “Acceptance,” and “Amends.”

Lang Leav’s poetry is simple and outright states its point at times, but every time you read or reread her poetry you find a new meaning, a new eureka moment that you never noticed before. In her own words “Much like a mirror reflecting its ever changing landscape, Lullabies is a book that, over time, will reveal itself to you slowly.” Even though she split the book into three sections, you can begin reading from any page in any section. The poems are meant to sing you to sleep on the night that sleep just refuses to come. Much like a mirror you can find bits of your soul reflected in the poems within her book. They sing to you in a very lyrical way about your past, present and even a little bit of your future.

In her poetry she uses simple everyday things, like signpost and skillfully creates a metaphor that explains complex emotions into understandable simple poems. After reading some of her poetry, as a writer you, I began to wonder why I never thought of explaining things in such a simple manner. Her craft is in the simplicity of her poems, the beauty in the understanding of her words.

-Margaret Cline