Sweetness of Salt

These are poems that have brought back into Indian English poetry the sumptuousness of emotions in all honesty of experience and, at the same time, are in keeping with the ancient Dravidian aesthetics. Lyricism of the spirit, of being one with the moment, of savouring the wonder of being, shines through them. The robust diction, unusual word-combinations and the ability to transform the most common into the extraordinary, set this poet apart. The affirmative resurgence of the self through Indian English poetry is best exemplified here. A J Thomas, Asst. Editor of Indian Literature; winner of the Katha Award, Hutch Crossword Award and AKMG Prize These poems come to me from a distant place and arrive at the center of the soul, the family, forest, city - where poetry is universal.
Susan Bright, poet, recent titles: Breathing Under Water, The Layers of Our Seeing, publisher of Plain View Press

Sweetness of Salt is hugely evocative to the senses with its exotic saffron bricks, watermelon tea, curry leaves. What moves me most is the way the poet has wrought memory work almost like wrought-iron or lattice work: his themes are familial love, and sensuous reminiscence. Of the house he was born in, he can remember: "Tile-roofed coolness / and saffron brick floor" patterned with ancestral footsteps. This is a brilliant journey well worth taking.
Lynn Strongin, poet, recent titles: Dovey & Me, The Birds of the Past Are Singing and The Girl with Copper-Colored Hair

MK Ajay exposes the molten lava at the center of our active volcanoes. Language erupts from below the surface in a startling explosion of burning and beauty.
Pamela L. Laskin, poet, author of Remembering Fireflies, director, Poetry Outreach Center, The City College, NY

Every once in a while comes a voice that sings with such clarity and vision that one needs to stop and take pause. MK Ajay's poems emerge from the heart and explore the very depths of the soul. Lyrical, haunting, filled with light and beauty, Sweetness of Salt spans generations and reaches across cultures, binding them together like a golden thread in language that lilts and sparkles.
Mike Maggio, poet, author of deMOCKracy

MK Ajay serves up lush, rich language in his exotic poems, layering jarring image over dreamlike image over the present, over the past.
Elaine Heveron, author of Email To Cleveland