Honestly, I’m not big into poetry. It’s not that I don’t like it; it’s just for the most part it doesn’t strike much of a chord for me. Yes,it may be because some of it is presumptious, and, yes, it may also be because sometimes they lay on the metaphors as thickly as Paula Deen lays on the butter, but for the most part poetry is one of those things that doesn’t sit with me as well as a book can. Not until Lullabies, anyway. A native of Sydney, Lang Leav is one of the today’s most accomplished poets while being one of the younger ones to boot. Granted both the Qantas Spirit of Youth award and the Churchill Fellowship, Leav focuses mainly on the themes of love and loss as brilliantly encompassed in her national best-seller Love & Misadventure and her more recent Lullabies. But what is it that makes this book of poetry so enticing? It could be the Leav’s original drawings which grace the cover and pages of the poems within. Or maybe it’s the length of the poems themselves, which never go beyond a page in length, giving them an attractive edge over other lengthy poems that drag on like a bad relationship. Maybe it’s the whole package: the images, the length, and the content in between. The description that wants to come out with regards to Leav’s poetry is “juicy,” but not in the gossipy or meaty sense. It’s juicy in the way a strawberry might be: sweet and ripe and leaving you with a satisfied sigh of well-being. Of course, with the themes of love and loss being prevalent, one gains a sense of forlorness and nostalgia. Yet the way in which they are expressed does not leave one maudlin or bitter. Instead, with poems such as “More Than Love,” Leav allows one to look at their past loves and turmoils with a bittersweet understanding as they move on to better things with their heads held high. You’ll find no anger or no resentment between the lines of Leav’s poetry: it’s just a simple understanding of the sad things in life that make the better the best. Don’t be turned off to poetry; give Lullabies a shot. You’ll be glad you did.