When All You Are is Change

by Ambica Gossain

In a perfect world, an object thrown straight up, would fall straight back down, tracing a flawless parabolic path on graph paper. But in reality, the atmosphere alters its course, shifting its point of return ever so slightly. Demanding the quick, instinctive adjustment to catch it, what we end up calling life.

A Life that gets lived in a collective prism, refracting white light into the spectrum you eventually see the world in.  A far from perfect, having endured its own journey  smokey distortion and bursts of bright. The faint glow always just that much out of reach from the distance you can toe.

“When All You Are Is Change”  is a poetry collection about the inevitability of transformation, the subtle forces, both known and unseen, that shape our trajectories, and trigger the art of adapting to circumstance and situation no matter how perfectly parabolic they may seem.

Genres: Poetry

98 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2025

Reviews

[Noor Anand]

I found the poetry compelling and fascinating. Ambica is an expressive writer, and she is unafraid to lay her emotions bare for the world to read.

It was certainly an act of courage to publish her poetry and for this Ambica must be lauded. The poems are easy to read, yet thought-provoking. They can be read at once in a sitting or savoured over many reads to suit differing occasions and emotions.

I liked it, despite not being very big on poetry in general, and I recommend you read it too.

Read my detailed review on: https://nooranandchawla.com/review-of...

[Sadgi Chandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first, I am in love with this book. The poems are meticulously crafted and incredibly refined. They say far more than the words written down. Every single line holds a punch, sharp and deliberate, wrapped in fresh metaphors. There’s no fluff here, just that rare kind of writing that respects your intelligence and your heart in equal measure.

The writing has a certain maturity to it, a quiet strength, a depth that doesn’t ask to be noticed but insists on being felt. There’s something about the rawness in these poems, the way the emotions are laid bare and yet held with such care. It’s so full of texture, the kind that doesn’t just sit on the page but lingers long after you’ve moved on.

I would like to take a second and talk about the sentence construction in this book. I love how the author builds each thought. It's so meticulous, so to the point like she’s saying exactly what needs to be said and not a syllable more. It’s clean without being cold, precise without being distant. It adds to the impact as it's free from distraction. That, in itself, is an art.

What makes this book truly special is its honesty. It doesn’t try to tie things up in a bow. It doesn’t promise clarity or perfection. And that’s the beauty of it. Instead, it offers companionship through the mess, through the unraveling and the re-forming. It’s a reminder that change is not some scenic detour away from who we are. It is the path itself, messy and magical and wholly ours.

Reading this felt like being seen, in that rare, sacred way where someone captures what you’ve felt but never put into words. Each page acknowledges both the ache of shedding and the quiet wonder of becoming. This isn’t just a collection of poems. It's a reclaiming of oneself. This book is a companion, a confidant, a quiet revolution in a hardcover jacket.

If you’re drawn to poetry that catches you off guard and sees you exactly where you are, this book is for you.