“Smoke and Butterflies”, written by Mony Shohayeb’s, is a compilation of poetry and prose. Originally published in 2021 by Good Bee Publishing, the book takes the reader on a journey from life, love, and pain to healing. Shohayeb highlights the contradictions and the synergy of life. She poetically displays all that shakes, shapes, breaks, and builds us again.
Shohayeb ties the regular ups and downs with the earth-shattering events with her breathtaking words. The book begins with a poem, “No Life Jacket Onboard” that explores the idea of vulnerability and not having a sense of security. The poet said, “My first book was called ‘The Life Jacket’, and it was about having a life jacket when the tide was high. But then I got an alternative thought ‘What if there is no life jacket on board? ‘What happens when we do not have a life jacket?’”
The Chapters:
“Talk to the stars, they know your name.
Connect with their radiance,
they feel your pain.”
The book explores an array of emotions, starting with life, passing through love and pain, and ending with pain. She explains, “I always thought of life as the bigger picture that tells everything: work, family, and relationships. Then, there is love, whether it is love for fellow human beings or being the relationship love, and a lot of it is about the relationship. But along with life and with love, there comes a lot of pain.”
“He was prodigally stingy. Holding back, saving every display of emotion for a day that never came.”
The book is divided into chapters, making it a series of short reads. Each chapter has a line art drawing, highlighting the title and the theme of the upcoming poem. “I wanted to be able to separate the different chapters so it does not become one big bulk of nothingness. I wanted to separate them but at the same use different art forms.”
The Imagery of The Smoke and Butterflies:
“Maybe we will meet in another life where I am a butterfly and you can see the brightness of the colors that paint my wings.”
The imagery of the butterfly and the smoke is heavily prevalent throughout the poems. The butterfly represents a woman. They are effortlessly beautiful and they can transform and adapt to many environments. The smoke reflects the challenges, the pain, the obstacles that women face.
Shohayeb explained, “The butterfly is very much, in my perception, a female. Because the butterfly is beautiful. She is delicate. But that does not mean that she is not resilient”. She added, “In women, there is a lot of beauty, a lot of strength, and a lot of reliance. And the ability to adapt, always develop, and transform. I find that very inspiring.”
The Writing:
“You stirred a whirlpool inside me, a soft yet intense storm, one that cannot be tamed. You triggered it while I was the one left to deal with the excruciatingly sweet aftermath.”
The author shifts from the first-person to the third-person perspective in the same poem. In doing so, it allows the reader to not only sympathize but reflect on them, as well. It engages the mind and gives space for the heart to feel. Shohayeb said, “When you get a thought as a writer, it is so personal that you want it to be written in the first person perceptive. But, you also do not want it to lose that audience. You want to be as relatable as much as possible”
Home:
“Home is where safety dwells”
“The chapter speaks about home is very close to my heart. As an expat child, I moved a lot with my family. As I turned into an adult, the question of identity the question of belonging, and the question of where is home?”, the Egyptian Canadian author said about her favorite chapter, “Home”.
