Book Review – Echoes of Military Souls: a collection of poems by Jerusha Kananu Marete

There’s some somberness that this book inserts into the mind of the reader as soon as one finishes the first poem.

This doesn’t water down the artistry of the author Jerusha Kananu Marete.

Her words bring out the imagery of the matter.

Her pen paints how military families cope while a loved one is on duty, their fears when one is in combat, how they take in the message that their loved one is no more and how they pick up the pieces after that happens. Sometimes the pieces to be picked up is that after a mission, the soldier deserts the family. Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Life is tough for the women left behind, the fatherless sons’ and daughters live through a lot.

She magically captures all the above through poems.

The 42 paged book takes one through the cold world of war but also the love between all these.

The book begins with The Promise which is an acceptance of the fact that a loved one is gone and is never coming back. The poem which is from the perspective of a soldier’s wife sets the mood, a sombre one for the whole book. Even though there are some that depict companionship and lift one’s spirit.

The poems of gains and losses depict the hard world of a soldier’s spouse. Many fall into depression and the loss, sometimes being deserted or be it death, leads to more loss.

At the local brew den, she is a resident

Drowning her pain away.

She’s a husk ghost walking

A shell of former self

Mourning the loss of her gains

– Echoes of Military Souls by Jerusha Kananu Marete

Fare thee well show acceptance and hope after loss.

Hopes went to the ground,

But your spirits around

– Echoes of Military Souls by Jerusha Kananu Marete

There’s Betrayal, there’s Painful Passion, and there’s also the love for the life of soldiers life, in defence of one’s country.

Army Brat beautifully captures this fact.

I am an army brat, and to all soldiers

When the nights re quiet

Loneliness loud

And conditions cruel

Don’t be scared….

– Echoes of Military Souls by Jerusha Kananu Marete

There are many other poems in the book,