Paying homage to the countless lives lost and uprooted in the name of war throughout history, de Lange tugs at humanity’s heartstrings with a scintillating combination of poetry and photography. At a time when tensions are heightened throughout the globe, the author delves into the tools for coping with the despair that inevitably kicks in, whether it is found in those who are left behind or in those who return and struggle to get reacclimated to civilian life.

In no uncertain words, de Lange vehemently rejects the idea of war, providing audiences with compelling imagery, whether it is of a blood-stained sky or describing one’s eyes and ears as “craters of despair.” Perhaps the most haunting metaphor is how the “skeletons of sunflowers stand like sentinels.” The aftermath of war is not just death, destruction, and starvation but something even greater—robbing a generation of the light and exuberance, the sheer joy of doing something as universal as playing in one’s own neighborhood.

The author’s work is raw and authentic, yet simultaneously surreal in the way that a childhood toy named the “Observer” is privy to the harrowing tumult of war. The dichotomy of pure innocence of the toy is juxtaposed with the pain and heartbreak, the endless fighting, and the scent of death. While the work references the greater theme of war as a whole, the author dives into current events as well, chiefly the atrocities in Ukraine. Throughout it all, the eeriness of innocence silently watching darkness consume the light is stirring. At its core, de Lange’s work is sincere and heartfelt, leaving an indelible impression in the audience’s mind of the havoc that war undoubtedly can wreak.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

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