The Literature Today: Your book “Broke, Healed and Loved” delves into themes of love, healing, and various emotions. What inspired you to explore these particular themes through your poetry?

Devangshree Saini: As I have always said, I will repeat it again, my life is my greatest inspiration. It’s not like that I decide ‘Oh today I will write something on festivals or euphoric emotions’; NO. If it is written there in the pages, it means someone or something has made me feel it intensely and made me think of either how rotten or how alluring a human heart could be. I was just penning my thoughts and experiences as and when I confronted them in my life, it was in a natural sense that the collection came out to be majorly dealing with these three emotions i.e. breaking, healing and loving.

The Literature Today: The absence of titles in your poems creates a unique reading experience, allowing them to flow seamlessly. Can you share the thought process behind this decision and how it enhances the overall message of the collection?

Devangshree Saini: The main reason behind not giving any title to my poems is that I don’t want anyone to interpret or analyse it in one particular way, because there is no one idea or thing being discussed in most of the poems. They talk about many emotions and experiences out of which some are so chaotic that even I didn’t know what was going on in my heart and mind when I was scribbling them down. I write some words trying to pour out that exact vehemence which storms inside me but just then some voice says that these words are not enough to manifest the emotions you’re trying to express. So I decided not to bind them to a particular title or feeling.    

The Literature Today: Your poetry captures the interconnectedness of emotions and experiences in our lives. How do you believe this portrayal resonates with readers and their own emotional journeys?

Devangshree Saini: It is not something which only I have felt or experienced but everyone does. Let’s take hurt, pain or sorrow. What do these emotions make us go through? emotional breakdown, overthinking, sleepless nights, demotivation, depression and to the worst extent, it is mental instability most people suffer with. All the poems are dealing with those failures and upliftments which we all do experience in our lives. We all love someone, we all have dear ones for whom we can go to any extent if need be, we all deal with heartbreak when they hurt us, and then we all try hard to move on through it and forget everything that happened. So the challenges, downfalls and stories might be different but the way they affect us is almost similar. In conclusion;

at the end of the day,

in one way or the other,

we are all fighting to live

just one day more.

-we are same

The Literature Today: Emotions can be intricate and difficult to express. How do you manage to distill such complex feelings into simple yet powerful language in your poems?

Devangshree Saini: I like simplicity and originality over embellishments in poetry. I have met many writers who write to impress and not express. Expressing the rawness and originality of your thoughts and emotions without modifying it into a lie or in a forced speech gives the best artists and writers to the world. This is what I practice. I write only when I feel something and that too when I am alone. I give myself the time I need to acknowledge and let go of the negative emotions I feel. I let them take me with themselves and then I pour them out on paper, though it does not change or expel the hurt or betrayal I did receive but reduces it and gives me that strength to live with it. Therefore, I don’t use and look for heavy vocabulary in that condition.

The Literature Today: The minimalist approach to language in your poetry enhances the raw emotions. Could you elaborate on how you select words and create an atmosphere that deeply resonates with readers?

Devangshree Saini: I try to use that ideal word which will describe my inner emotional wave with the similar intensity in which I’m bearing it. Because when you express yourself truly and fearlessly it’s not that hard for you to find the perfect words to say it. Many times, when I read the poems of other renowned and wonderful authors and poets, I feel that simplicity with power and elegance speaks louder than any kind of fanciness ever can. 

The Literature Today: “Broke, Healed and Loved” seems to offer both solace and hope to readers going through their own struggles. How did you balance acknowledging challenges with instilling a sense of positivity in your work?

Devangshree Saini: As we all know, It’s nature, every joy brings sorrow with itself and vice versa. It is already balanced, all we have to do is be patient. And that’s the same law I practiced in my work. There were both the things I enjoyed and the things I fought with in my life and so did my poems. If we write and want to show that this is how deep the pain has affected me then we must also be willing to share and celebrate the joy and elation we feel at times. I embrace and thank for every failure and achievement and that’s what I also wish the readers to do.  

The Literature Today: Can you share your personal journey with writing this collection? Were there any specific experiences or moments that significantly influenced the poems you’ve included?

Devangshree Saini: There are some sweet memories of some sweet people I met in my journey, which is still going on, and within this journey there were many ups and downs I went through. I used to fear failure the most and then came a time when I actually did fail, I failed in everything I was ought to perform best at. Some very close relations failed, career and studies – failed, bad physical, emotional and mental health. Anyways, my family was still there with me to support in every possible way they could. Still, When I was at my worst, some of my friends were there to listen to me and console me. It doesn’t matter how hard it all was because it has also given me the most loving memories and the sweetest experiences. It has given me the best moments and the best people to celebrate those moments with. I’ll always be grateful for all of this.    

The Literature Today: The book’s poems often transition seamlessly from pain to healing. How did you manage to capture the nuances of these transitions and create a sense of progression throughout the collection?

Devangshree Saini: I tried to put the poems in an uplifting yet chain form. One dejected and overwhelming thought leads to another. Then I have tried to put some lighter emotions by including the recovering poems via. healing section in the book. This leads to a euphoric height of love and passion and again comes down through the ending poems of loss and heartbreak to form a chain which actually provides a meaningful life.  

The Literature Today: Poetry has a unique way of connecting with readers on an emotional level. How do you hope your poems in this collection will impact and resonate with your readership?

Devangshree Saini: I hope my poems would let them feel the depth of the human heart in every sense – joy, delight, love, hatred, betrayal, hope, faith, passion, sorrow, pain, hurt… every way. And then let them know that it still beats in its regular rhythm.  

The Literature Today: Your book consists of a blend of short and long poems. Could you elaborate on how the different poem lengths contribute to the overall narrative and emotional depth of the collection?

Devangshree Saini: In the collection, long poems represent a particular idea or emotion in depth and in a more elaborative manner, where I thought that only two – three lines won’t do justice to the thoughts I am having. Whereas, the short ones are those where I wanted to leave a deep impact on the reader’s mind or you can say on their thought process; where in a few words I wanted to convey a big picture or story or message behind it.