Petals and Blood, Stories, Dharma & Poems of Ecstasy, Awakening & Annihilation Reviewed By Sandra Shwayder Sanchez of Bookpleasures.cm
- By Sandra Shwayder Sanchez
- Published October 31, 2013
- Poetry
Sandra Shwayder Sanchez
Reviewer Sandra Shwayder Sanchez: Sandra is
a retired attorney and co-founder of a small non-profit publishing
collective: The Wessex Collective with whom she has published two short fiction collections
(A Mile in These Shoes and Three Novellas) and one
novel, Stillbird.
Her most recent novel, The Secret of A Long Journey is soon to be released by Floricanto Press in April 2012 and her first novel, The Nun, originally published by Plain View Press in 1992 is being  reissued in a 2nd Edition with additional material by PVP in March 2012.
Author: Gavin Harrison
ISBN: 978-0-9891998-2-7
The
best of literature should enlighten as well as entertain. The purpose
of literature from its inception in myths and fables all over the
world and across all cultures and religions has always been to
inspire listeners and readers to be the best people they can be. This
collection of spectacularly beautiful photographs and amazingly
inspiring poems does exactly that. And not only has this author given
his readers a special gift in this book but he donates money
from its sale to help children in South Africa through the Woza Moya
Project and the Group of Hope. An artist of extraordinary talent who
uses his gifts to keep on giving . . . it doesn’t get any better
than that. The poem that introduces this wonderful work tells
us we are not alone and advises us to:
“Fall from the
contraction
of your mind
into the Cathedral of your heart.”
And moves along with grace and wisdom to the end:
“ . . .be
available
To the grace
And the good fortune
Already upon its
way,
Bowing before the possibilities of
This sacred time
together” (p.5)
And that turns out to be excellent
advice, beautifully phrased. Whether your spiritual
inclinations lead you to worship God, the Father or The Mother
Goddess, Adonay, Buddha, Jesus, nature and/or your
ancestors, these spiritually motivated poems will facilitate a
spiritual and psychological excavation revealing your deepest
feelings and clues to the most important and deepest truths
about who, what and why we are: most definitely enlightening as well
as uplifting. The poems are grouped into chapters with titles like
“Longing”, Togetherness”, “Gratitude” that revolve around a
theme the author discusses in frank and moving stories about his own
life, a life that has been devoted to learning to understand the
meaning of life:
“A significant blessing of my life has been
the clarification of what is most important to my heart. At long last
the inner ducks are in row now, fortifying my willingness and fueling
my longing for union with My beloved no matter what, every moment of
every day.” (p.10)
and later in the chapter titled
Togetherness:
“Invisibility and hiding were the tools of my
early survival. Those impulses accompanied me into adulthood,
complicating my life and affecting those around me. Coming into new
relationships with others has not been a simple endeavor. Emerging
from isolation is on ongoing journey. Discovering connectedness
and communion has been a long and winding road. Step by step,
circumstance by circumstance, my willing footfalls have inclined
towards deepening intimacy with those around me.” (p.48)
The
author credits the Sufi poets, Hafiz and Rumi for turning his world
upside down, challenging him to “settle for nothing less than
unbridled liberation here and now.” An obviously brilliant
student and equally brilliant teacher, his prose as well as his
poetry are among the best pieces of writing I have ever read. I am
grateful to him for his work as was the Dalai Lama who presented him
an Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award. Read this book, be helped by
this book and help the author help others. Its time to sing the
praises of this hero.
