Burning Like Her Own Planet

by Vandana Khanna

Against the backdrop of iconic, ancient Hindu texts, Burning Like Her Own Planet reimagines the lives of Hindu goddesses through a contemporary, feminist lens. Told in a series of persona poems and dramatic monologues, the book reinvents these myths into essential stories of love, betrayal, and faith. In these poems, the goddesses question their predetermined fates and examine what it means to be human and divine. They speak in the voices of girls, wives, and mothers, all trying to carve a space for themselves in a world ruled by jealous gods and capricious luck. Overcoming a string of challenges, these goddesses discover their own agency, and the power that comes from telling their own stories. At the heart of the book are the goddesses Sita and Parvati―women who are cast in the role of the “perfect” wife, the “perfect” mother. Here, the goddesses describe their own transformations from naïve, untried women into powerful forces claiming their autonomy. Each in her own way challenges the traditional notions of what it means to be a woman, illuminating the connections between the personal and the universal, the devout and the earthly. The poems highlight the tension between obligation and freedom, examining the consequences for those who try and change the narrative. Whether blessed or cursed, these women, these girl-goddesses, forge their own place within the pages of ancient texts, writing the bitter and the sweet of own lives as they undergo the trials of becoming holy.

Genres: Poetry, Religion

100 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2023

Reviews

[Jessi Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Vandana's collection of poems inspired by the goddesses Parvati and Sita. She visited my school for a Living Writers event to showcase a few poems in this book, and I was touched by her witty and powerful words. Here are some quotes that I particularly liked from Burning Like Her Own Planet:

"Alone in the forest...cruel...like a planet towards...absence of the moon...dared not move"

"I'm seven and can't sleep because it's not Virginia"

"Shades of crimson, shades of bleeding"

"No one will notice---just another girl"

"Shine like a new scar"

"You kept me hidden in a drawer...where you left...our story"

"My virtue becomes a heavy hem pulled down"

"All this worthless ash"

"May she,...the sacrifice...be drained for us"

"My ears how they prick, how they lie"

"Sadness buzzed around me like a hot swathe of wasps"

"A trophy pinned with dead flowers and scorn"

"Ruined by nothing but my thoughts"

"The world empty of her"

"He's either praying or pretending and you're fine with that"

"Become sacred, when it hurts to be you"

"I am my own constellation"

"Built my loneliness twig by twig"

"Heat of a wife's work stuck to my skin"

"Your pulse thick with bees"

"You smell heartache on my skin like an old burn"

"My love...is full of woes...the tangled wilderness...worse than you"

"Let shame seal my girl-lips"

"I've rinsed my dreams of you in a river a hundred years wide, and still they are dry to the touch"

"Only a little bit of me wanted to be saved"

"The one whose name means crying, the one with ten heads and not a pretty one in the bunch"

"Doubt covers them like unforgiving ash"

"Did he love her then? He can't recall"

"My fingers, inky from drawing birds all day"

"No gloss pretty enough to save a faced marked by tragedy"

"I mean to say yes but, in whispers, everything ends up sounding like death"

"Hold your hand tight against her throat until it throbs like a sun. Start again"

[Laura Sackton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous poems reimagining the lives of Hindu goddesses.

[K.K. Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Because who can tell the difference / in the dark between antlers and branches / and bone,"

"My hand in yours is for pretend, for fable. / With you, I'm as close to woman as I'll / ever be, practicing my pout / posing prim."

"Take his name in vain because / it's the only one you know, because / it's his heart you will waste time / mending."

"I can bribe / the holy out of you."

"Each time we meet / something gets subtracted"

"You aren't like you used to be -- hate the boy / who builds the world without you, who calls / you a goddess, woos you out of the jungle / then treats you like the second flower he sees."

"Only the fairest get the goods: / The guy. The god. The eternal and everlasting."

"If you let me stay / I'll let you cut your teeth on my heart."

"This is what you get for begging to be / chosen: every god in the universe eyeing / you through the clouds like a hot wound / he can't help but press."

"Our love double-knotted, saddle stitched, / held the world together, until it didn't-- / all the words you placed in me flushed / and faltered."

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Khanna presented a beautiful reimagining of the lives of Hindu goddesses in this poetry collection, centering the goddesses Sita and Parvati in particular. My knowledge of Hindu deities is quite limited, so I admit that it was a little harder for me to fully appreciate these poems. Despite this, I still got a fair bit out of them, and I enjoyed the feminist lens that challenged what was expected from women through these goddesses. On this note, I really liked the coalescence of the divine and ordinary through the feminine. Furthermore, Khanna explored the tensions of upholding tradition versus breaking free from them, taking care to contemplate what happened to those who chose to defy expectations.

Again, I think this collection was a bit harder to get into because of my unfamiliarity with Hinduism, but I still enjoyed a handful of poems and found them thought-provoking and interesting.

Some favorites: “Fable,” “Goddess in the Dark,” “The Goddess Calls a Truce,” “Creation Myth” poems, and “Destruction Myth” poems

[K.C. Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled to follow this more than some of the other collections I’ve been reading lately. It didn’t speak to me as much, although that’s likely because some of the references went over my head. It’s based pretty heavily in a mythology I have only a surface-level knowledge of. I know enough to understand the context of the stories, but not the use of color and animals, etc.

Anyway, even with that disconnect, I liked what Khanna was getting at. A lot of these poems reference Parvati and the concept of self-immolation (hence the title) and bring the mythological/divine feminine archetype to contemporary scrutiny. In other words: let it burn. 🔥🔥🔥 Divine feminine rage!

[Emily Cinquemani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection makes use of lush language and beautiful metaphors. I also found the lineation choices and pacing of the poems to be notably good. Khanna reimagines Hindu Goddesses through persona. The voices she creates are compelling, and remind me a bit of the voices of mythological women in Analecia Sotelo’s VIRGIN or the persona work of Atwood. If you like either of these writers, I think you’ll like Khanna. There are also some poems, like “Self-Portrait as a Girl Conceding” that seems to step outside of persona but maintain the feeling of a strong, female voice.

[Jennifer Beard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vandana Khanna presents an exquisite reimagining of Hindu goddesses and mythology intertwined with autobiographical reflections on their humanity within. Feminist, lyrical, sensory.

Fans of Nikita Gill will enjoy this poetry collection.

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adored this poetry collection that deals with womanhood, love, fear, strength, belief, betrayal and hope through the lens reimagined Hindu Godessess. These Goddesses speak as daughters, mothers, lovers and wives about disapointments, loss and power. Feminist, beautiful and powerful.

[Malia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Khanna’s sonnets >>>>>

[Rachel Stallings · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am an idiot when it comes to poetry but i really enjoyed this

[Maria do Socorro Baptista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poemas muito fortes que lidam com dores profundas. Muito bom.

[Anastasiya Sukhenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

gorgeous, vivid writing. was surprised how much this grew on me as i kept reading.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this moving exploration of Hindu goddesses, specifically Parvati and Sita, Khanna’s compelling poems delve into feminism, girlhood, holiness, and love. If you, like me, admire the gorgeous title, it also appears in the final line of “Because You Forgot Me, I Am Weird in the World.” Take in its second and final stanza, a memorable quatrain: “The forest crowds around me to stare— / blank-eyed, free of conscience. Those / eyes see what I’ve become: a bride / burning like her own planet.”

from “10 Essential Poetry Books by AAPI Authors” via BOOK RIOT: https://bookriot.com/must-read-poetry...