3 Review(s)

For the first time in the history of Indo-Anglican literature, Bleeding Tears is bringing to readers ballads and poems in English written by a poet of Indian origin under one single umbrella. Abandoning himself to sharp pangs of emotions, author Roymans has turned so-called poetic norms upside down with the ballads that are forever a part of his life. The author’s early days as a guitarist with a band at the Gottingen Park in Canada’s east coast, its every day squalor, and the pursuit for life despite its many trials are the cornerstone of this unique compilation. From the slums of Gottingen and street music to shared strivings in the sleazy ghetto of Halifax, Roymans’ ballads are a carefully crafted saga of human aspirations; of the desperate zeal to turn life around; of the ‘have-beens’ and ‘have-nots’ who remained nameless, faceless in Gottingen nights. Clutching his roots, he kept returning to his family back home in "Even when you’re not in mind" and at the same time remembered the hapless woman who worked the dark street-corners for a living in Ghetto of Gottingen. The tears that he shed for an unheard sweep of humanity in the title ballad "Bleeding Tears" touch off myriad emotions that humanity so desperately tries to control. This book sits on the fragile line between all that should have been and everything that could easily be.