An Open Wound by O Persaud is a book about love and heartache told in a poetic voice. This collection of over sixty short poems will appeal to mature audiences due to adult language being used in some places. The poet introduces Adam and Eve in the opening verses followed by the table of contents. It is interesting to note that capitalization in headings or opening lines has rarely been used, giving continuity to the language. Most stanzas in the poems are free verse rhyming partly in syllable to narrate a story. The poet has touched upon themes of love, bonding, intimacy, and heartache in baby steps that makes reading each piece of poetry more appealing. This collection is a gradual ascent from feeling love to being emotional under love.

O Persaud has done a commendable job of weaving intricate details in between the lines. The pages of An Open Wound are filled with meaningful lessons and philosophy that stem from his valuable experiences and observations over the years. I liked the use of metaphors and irony in some places. The imagery used adds value to the poet’s goal of emotionally enriching verses that connect with readers on a personal level. Being used to rejection, the narrator in this poetry recalls both good and bad times, and the lessons learned after each encounter. These experiences reiterate the balance in the universe that influences human living through unknown forces. The poet has, remarkably, given a glimpse into his understanding of abstract emotions and its relation to higher dimensions – both within us and in outer space.

O Persaud’s An Open wound is a poetry collection centered on love and heartache. The collection of poems by O Persaud opens with a verse about the importance of Eve to Adam. The book then presents a mix of free and rhymed poems about love, heartbreak, and lust. It captures the essence of human emotions and thoughts through a sequence of compositions revolving around various instances and emotions in life.

I found An Open Wound to be a therapeutic reprieve as I read through the collection. It is like the author’s emotions of love and heartbreak were tastefully put into words. I found peace as I read, glad that such complex feelings were expressed in words. Some of the poems really connected with me like ‘on the eleventh’ and ‘the spring when life was kind’. They moved my heart and the words clearly conveyed to me the heartbreak in every line. Some even made me shed a few tears and there were ending lines from the poems that left a deep impression on me.

One of my favorites is the opening verse regarding Adam and Eve; it really helped pull me into the mood of the book. The flow of conscious manner that O Persaud expresses has an authentic, heartfelt feeling that will likely reverberate with people who have experienced love and been hurt by it. If you are looking for genuine and from-the-heart poetry that drives home the ache of falling in love, then An Open Wound is the book for you!

An Open Wound by O Persaud is written entirely in lower case letters, except rarely for emphasis where italics are insufficient, and has none of the customary standard punctuation that is used in even freestyle poetry. This collection of poems relies entirely on bold font titles, gaps between each verse, and a new page for each, to differentiate one from another. It is an entirely new concept, at least to me, and refreshingly different, as are the apparent changes of subject in what is in fact a tumultuous love story. The first poem that broke the theme is the intriguing “daydreaming”; it had never occurred to me that the moon might provide light “so she won’t be blinded by her own darkness”.

Sometimes, O Persaud uses allegory and metaphor to draw pictures of physical love-making, and never more cleverly than in “the breeze” and “bright blue lagoon” where the true meaning is sneaked gently into the reader’s understanding; both images are combined in “her sky” “between them” opens with “condom rips unwrapping my gift”. One of the most powerful poems is “on the eleventh” when the mysterious “he” attempts to bury memories of his lost love. “i even threw in that damn orchard park the one where we first said "hi"”. “a great love changes everything” is a truth expressed in “loved”. I found “in a December wind” as a line hidden in one of the longest poems, “the apple orchard”. “in a December wind”, the previous poem, remains my favourite. An Open Wound is a captivating atypical creation by O Persaud that no poetry lover should miss exploring.

An Open Wound: The Apple Orchard 2.0 is a work of collected poetic verses composed and arranged by author O. Persaud. Focusing primarily on ideas of relationships and the scars which they leave behind, the work is written for adult readers due to the inclusion of some adult language and references. Taking its initial ideas from the biblical scar Eve left on Adam, the work expands into a collection of more than sixty poems expressing the difficulties of relationships, sourness which can build between couples, but also the differing perspectives on new, fresh love and lost loves which may yet endure.

Author O. Persaud brings contemporary poetry into the realm of raw, honest expression with this excellent collection of verses. There is a marvelous use of imagery amongst many of the works, for example when cake baking becomes a metaphor for selfishness and manipulation, and there again other verses use very plain language to cut effective slices of reality for readers to digest. There are shorter moments as well as longer narrative poems like ‘the apple orchard’, a particular favorite for me, and the variety of ideas and storytelling styles within the verses keeps the reading experience fresh and surprising throughout. For a book of poems on relationships, the tone is overtly realistic and somewhat sour for the most part, but there are still plenty of warm moments and laughs interwoven with the seriousness. Overall, I would certainly recommend An Open Wound for modern poetry fans looking to discover new talent.

Take care of your health.