Friends is the fifth book in the series of my poems written as a young girl, Memories from another Lifetime. It was published on 01 September 2024, and it is dedicated to all the friends on my Journey who believed in me.
For those of you who are new to my blog – a very warm welcome! Here is a bit about me and my journey as a poet.
Vanita the Poet
When I first started planning and setting up this poetry blog back in August 2021, I did not imagine that, just 3 years down the road, I would have published five volumes of my poems and reached an audience around the globe.
I am not a professional writer, in fact, I have had a long career in the corporate world. Poetry is my passion, and I now believe, my true calling in life.
I started writing poems in 1981 at the young age of 13, following a deep personal trauma. I needed an outlet for my raw and powerful emotions.
The topics I wrote about were very personal, private, and at times, dark – unrequited love, desire, pain, betrayal, and my budding sexuality. Many of my poems also had a spiritual undertone. The maturity and depth of my poems written as a young girl belied my age, and I now believe they might have been memories from a previous life.
After a hiatus of almost 4 decades I started writing again, and I launched this poetry blog in November 2021. Memories from another Lifetime is a series of my poems written as a young girl. My mission is to make the voice of my younger self heard.
Friends and friendship
Friends is the fifth compilation of my poems. Several of the poems in Friends were written at a turbulent time in my life, and they present a highly idealised and youthful expression of friendship. Yet they also witness the complex and often conflicting emotions in a friendship – love, devotion, hurt, insecurity, and even jealousy.
Growing up I always hungered for a ‘best friend’, a kindred spirit who would truly understand me and feel as deeply as I did. It was only late into my adulthood that I learnt to be my own best friend and value solitude.
What do readers have to say about Friends?
Publishing poems as an unknown author is not an easy task, and poetry is known to be a difficult genre to market.
I am therefore very happy and grateful for the warm reviews I have received by genuine admirers of my poetry. This has kept my belief in my mission even in the face of discouragement, and I hope the reviews will enable my poetry to reach and move more people. Here are a couple of reviews of Friends.
“Poetic Beauty and Reflection” – Wendy Slater, Amazon
“Friends” by Vanita Shukla Hork is a beautiful compilation of poetic expressions. The brevity and lucidity of her verses are reminiscent of a resonant bell echoing in the stillness. Notably, these verses evoke memories of bygone friendships and illumine the factors that contributed to their dissolution. Yet, amid the pain and misunderstandings that may have led to estrangement, Hork exceptionally highlights the inherent love, joy, and spontaneity that comprised these bonds. As a reader, it resonated with me that past friendships have significantly contributed to my personal tapestry. Hork’s “Friends” serves as a poignant reminder of gratitude and serves as a testament to the omnipresence of grace in our lives.
“A wonderful portrayal of friendship” – John Kitchener, Amazon
Beautiful prose describing the journey of friendship.
Thank you!
I hope you will enjoy the poems in Friends. My mission is to make the voice of my younger self heard. I wish to touch the lives of as many people as possible with my poems. Please help me by sharing this post and Friends with friends and family.
Friends is available in Kindle and paperback format and free on KindleUnlimited.
If you enjoy my books, please do leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads – this is more important for authors than most readers realise. Your review will help other readers find good books to read. My books can also be found on BookBub.
Please also leave a comment here in my blog, it will make me very happy to hear from you.
Thank you for joining me on my Journey.
Vanita Shukla Hork, August 2025