Dustin Pickering reviews
Crushed Anthills
by Kashiana Singh

Humans labor, feet traveling many hills. Ants labor to build labyrinthine mound colonies. Kashiana Singh’s journey in Crushed Anthills is understood through “date/location/character.” The poet, as the cover presents her, is a jigsaw of locales. The reader is led through cultural centers which are embedded in the heart’s memory. From Delhi to Chicago, to Jalandhar, the reader becomes more curious of experiences through the intense medium of poetry. Remembrances are a “network of personal discoveries one needs to be willing to embark on.” Singh’s journeys engage with culture and people longingly. The language in poems such as “Delhi”  beguiles the reader. The poet writes: “No matter where I go, / I miss you profusely / when hiccups flood / my eyes.” In “Kohima” we are met with history itself wedged “between / Myanmar and Manipur”, a history of war between tribes. This small collection of poetry invoking place speaks of historical impact, and its presentation to one’s vision. A place becomes more than a location where spending time is as leisurely an activity as spending money in markets. Place leaves impressions that remain; even those impressions are invoked by the place itself which contends with its people and past. For instance, Chandigarh is “home to squares and blocks / of mathematical streets.” These poems uncover beauties of knowledge in largesse. The heart is a labyrinth. Containing photographs, the reader is invited on Singh’s journey in Crushed Anthills. This multifaceted work uncovers manifold colonies. 

Kashiana Singh lives by the mantra of “Work as Worship”, the theme for her TEDx talk. Her collection Shelling Peanuts and Stringing Words presents both a participant and an observer’s voice. Her chapbook Crushed Anthills is an unraveling of remembrances through cities and memories. Singh’ s work has been published on various global platforms. 

Dustin Pickering is founder of Transcendent Zero Press and founding editor of Harbinger Asylum. He is a former contributor to Huffington Post. He is the author of multiple poetry collections, short stories, essays, articles, and reviews. He lives in Houston, Texas.