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Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite
Inhale Exhale is book 2 in The Lost and Found Hope by R.S. Rain, an unusual collection of poetry that lays bare the ache of the soul and the conundrum of living depressed. The author does a wonderful job of capturing those emotions and thoughts that occasionally, at times frequently, invade the human psyche. The reader encounters a person who has to deal with a variety of troubling feelings: failure, loneliness, sadness, languor, and a pervading sense of depression coming across on each page. In these pages, the author documents her thoughts and it is disturbing to feel her struggle in loneliness: “I want to be alone. / I feel alone.” Yet when people watch her smile, they can’t imagine the effort it takes. In just two lines, she describes that reality: “I’m sad. / Still, I smile…”
It is hard to read this collection without pausing to feel the pain of the protagonist as she finds it hard to focus, to feel, to be at the bottom of the class in grade three in a public school, and symbolically taking the back row. R.S. Rain’s poetry is unique in style and it captures moments in the life of a depressed person in words that have great significance. I felt touched by the experience of loneliness in this collection and it is easy to experience that sense of pathos as one turns from page to page. Yet, it is real and human and many people can recognize the desperate voice that cries in these pages, a soul that yearns for light and a heart that beats for love. Each poem is comprised of few lines, at times it is just an expression on the page but loaded with meaning. Inhale Exhale is a book about depression and if you identify with the words in this collection, reach out for help.