Official Review: 20 poems by Barbara Ann Sirotkin

Nikolas Farmakis · Post by **Nikolas Farmakis** » 28 Nov 2020, 11:28

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "20 poems" by Barbara Ann Sirotkin.]

3 out of 4 stars

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20 Poems by Barbara Ann Sirotkin is a short collection of poetry related to the events occurring in 2020. The author explores themes like the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, and the US elections. The writer’s style is informal and simple, but the themes discussed in the poems are profound.

The author's first poem is about the invisible enemy, namely Covid-19. The author characterizes Covid-19 as a coward and a parasite that is rejected by everyone. She then describes her memories of being a teacher and interacting with her class before the pandemic. She also discusses the importance of wearing masks, as well as the challenges faced by California due to its wildfires. Moreover, the author goes over the negative consequences that the coronavirus pandemic brought on cities. Next, she writes a poem in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who served as a justice in the US Supreme Court. After this, the writer refers to the dog she rescued, who offered her love and friendship, while she also wishes that she could give Stephanie eternity, as Stephanie died due to drugs at 26 years of age.

I liked several characteristics in this collection of poetry. To begin with, this book was impeccably edited, as I noticed no grammatical errors in it. Also, the author used linguistic devices and poetic techniques, such as metaphors, to make her poems engaging and interesting. Furthermore, the writer shared twenty poems in the text, which was a clever way to indirectly refer to 2020. Additionally, many of the poems had a deep meaning, which displays the author’s wisdom and maturity. What I liked most about the text was the fact that the writer added rhyme to all the poems in the book, thereby creating a fun and pleasant tone to them.

What I disliked most about the poems was that some of them lacked originality, as the author failed to add sufficient creativity and imagination to the text.

This book will be appreciated most by fans of poetry related to themes surrounding 2020. Readers who like traditional poetry with rhyme will highly enjoy this book. Readers of all religions, including non-religion may like the text.

To sum up, I decided to rate this collection of poems with 3 out of 4 stars. The reason I deducted a star was the lack of uniqueness and imagination in the text. Other than this, the poems were exceptionally edited, engaging, mature, and pleasant to read, so a lower rating would have been unjustifiable.

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20 poems
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Vannaskivt · Post by **Vannaskivt** » 30 Nov 2020, 10:40

There are certainly a lot of things a poet could touch upon within this year! Seems like an interesting read and recap of a very unusual year. Thanks for the review.

indianembassyrome · Post by **indianembassyrome** » 03 Dec 2020, 11:26

Thanks for sharing such a nice review.

Mtibza eM · Post by **Mtibza eM** » 07 Dec 2020, 04:56

I am glad the author touched on recent events. Thank your for the review.

SassyAngel · Post by **SassyAngel** » 11 Dec 2020, 02:01

I love poetry its so hard yet easy to be so descriptive and poetry can be written in many ways I like how they wrote about maturity and the level it was very well thought out and was such a great read i appreciate well written poetry and there can be hidden meanings behind every sentence. thank you.