A Thousand Parallel Lives

You will leave everything you love most: this is the arrow that the bow of exile shoots first. - Dante For many young Tibetans living out their lives in exile across the world their idea of home is at best imagined - assuming its own shape and form from the countless stories painstakingly recounted time and again by the elders. This book of poems therefore is the poets own attempt to preserve the memories of her homeland and of early exile life and to capture as much of the struggles aspirations dreams and hopes of the Tibetan people as they strive to protect their ancient cultural and religious identity in a world of fast-changing priorities. So the book is at once about the pain of separation loss suppression despair doubt and isolation as it is about resilience starting anew freedom hope acceptance and compassion. In essence its about the thousand parallel lives that Tibetans live in one lifetime as they endeavor to stay true to all things Tibetan.