Poetry Book Review* In Fullness of the Word

"In Fullness of the Word" is as precious as a family heirloom, passed down from generations.  Symbolically speaking, this book is indeed a family heirloom.

It is a valuable collection and keepsake representing the beauty, history, depth, tapestry, and lineage of people of color, expressed through poetic form.

Over 20 Black Poet Laureates, from across the globe, whose lives intersect through their love for the written word, their humanity, their commonality of experiences as Black Americans, come together, producing a harmony akin to a seasoned church choir. 

This makes me very proud to provide this review for Black History Month.

From page one, until the book is done, readers will be engaged, enlightened, entertained, and empowered. This creative "gumbo" will leave readers "full", through the diversity of voices and viewpoints. Themes range from love gone wrong; to frustrations faced by poets experiencing writer's block; to protest pieces; to motivational poems; and even some cleverly crafted Haikus.  

Edited by Rhea Carmon, it contains nearly 200 pages (including interesting bios and photos) from the accomplished and talented contributors.

There were so many excellent selections, it would be difficult to list all of them that stood out here today.

But here are a few:

We have a New Dream, by Henry Jones states: "Silence is an echoed form of acceptance which allows the hatred to spread." Pg. 148  

In the poem Fix, Kim B. Miller writes: "You are not a broken people repair kit. They can heal without you." Pg. 2

Another impressive body of work were the pieces of Angelo 'Eyeambic' Geter.

Pgs. 46-54

This anthology deserves a place in every poetry lover's personal library.

I rate it 5 ***** stars.

Image credit: Henry L. Jones

 

Poetry Corner * Dr. Archan Mehta

Adult Dreamer?

Gentle readers:

What can I say?

I admit it:

I was a dreamy child,

Who enjoyed nothing more

Than the free ride

Of the imagination.

I was fascinated by nature:

Mountains, hills, trees and flowers,

Spoke to me directly and intimately.

In contrast,

I felt suffocated

By formal education

And could even feel the

Walls of a classroom

Holding me like

A prisoner forced

Into a jail cell.

Instead, I longed to

Break free and play

In the outdoors, hug trees

And smell the roses.

I disliked interacting with

Aggressive people with

A bossy or bullying nature.

Hence, I longed to

Break free of organizations

And institutions, such as

Marriage, family, workplace, etc.

I loved to watch

Children at play

And longed to play with them.

I wished to own the

Sky, ocean, pond, lake and river

And longed to ride

A tidal wave

Breaking into the land.

Strangers found me odd

And I found strangers odd.

Thus, literature was my

Only refuge

And books were

My best friends:

In solitude,

I would dream about

Stars enjoying a siesta

In the late afternoon,

And I would imagine

The sun crawling

Along the sky

Like a reclusive turtle.

I wanted only

To be left alone,

So I could day dream

About a brighter, new dawn.

Unburdened of worldly attachments,

I wished to roam

Wild and free

Like a gypsy, drifter or vagabond

Adrift in his own universe

Like a rudderless ship,

In the ocean, without 

A compass for guidance.

Thus, I wished to lose

Track of space and time

And drink the elixir

Of an inner wisdom, divine. 

BIO:

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 Muse

I do not

Know when you

Will visit me.

Why do you torment

My soul?

You are as unpredictable

As the weather and I

Can’t even catch you.

Where will you go?

When will you return?

My heart is burned

In several places

But you leave no traces

Of your comings and goings

And I can’t write anymore

Thanks to your nature.

You have your moody

Spells, nineteen to the dozen,

And I have lost count of

The times I have begged

An invitation,

But you do not care

Even if I dare and wear

My heart on my sleeve.

Please don’t say you will

Meet me at five

And disappear in a style

Which reveals your character.

I have deadlines to meet

So rise from your dreadful sleep

And give me a break

So I can walk to

The yonder lake

And write a poem:

And, just for a change,

Don’t play games:

Even with my artistic flair

I am compelled to ask:

Will you be there?

Or are you lost to art?

Have you found a 

New master to tease?

Muse,

Don’t forsake me, please.

BIO:

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.

ON CREATING POETRY

It is midnight and

I feel as if

My brain has

Popped out of its skull.

Why?

Well, because I create

Poetry and I am a poet:

I am losing my sanity,

But insanity is a good thing

Because this pleasant

Madness, after all, enables

Me to create poetry.

Thus, I move from here

To there but I know I

Am not going anywhere.

The only fever

I have is for poems.

Otherwise,

Life goes on

At an even pace,

And I feel bored to death.

Therefore, as it turns out,

Poetry is the only saving grace.

Otherwise, I feel almost as if life

Is devoid of any meaning or purpose.

Meanwhile, life rolls on like

The taste of scotch

On your tongue and

You feel almost as

If you are less than one.

Only those who create

Poetry can be considered winners.

The rest of us, I guess, are sinners

Who are destined to walk 

The plank on board

A pirate’s ship—or we

Are like condemned prisoners

Sent to the gallows or we

Are fated to be dropped

Into a raging inferno of nothingness.

Therefore, let poets, like lava,

Emerge slowly but surely

From an erupting volcano

And pray let that volcano

Burn and rage for an eternity.

After all, only poetry can

Lend a helping hand to

Feed and soothe our souls

And heal wounds which we

Have accumulated over

A life-time and even beyond.

Finally, poetry will enable

Mankind to escape from

The transient pleasures

And pains of our bodies

To embrace our shared

And collective experience

Of cosmic consciousness.

Poetry Corner* Dr. Archan Mehta

 Literary Pursuits

I do not raise

A bottle to my lips

To drown my sorrows,

But drinking helps me

To forget about you.

I wanted to pursue

You like adolescent boys

Panting after girls 

Wearing micro-mini skirts

But you remained

Outside of my reach.

Even so, I loved how, page

After page, revealed

Your deep and dark secrets

But you were a cave

And I felt lost inside of it.

There were also times

When I felt your soul

Was an area of darkness.

But I did not utter a word

Of protest since I majored

In a subject called economics.

As the years chugged along,

You and I had an uneasy

Relationship and you had

No sense of time

And I found myself

Lost in this bottle of wine.

BIO:

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.

Poets United Breaks For Summer Vacation!

 Greetings, Readers!

It's that time again. The Poets United Blog will be on summer break effective June 29, 2023 to September 7, 2023.

We look forward to reconnecting at that time, to share our love of poetry & the arts with you.

In the interim, I hope you'll check out the wealth of poetry, resources, and interviews posted on our site.

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions over the break; they will get a response, as time permits.

Have a great, safe 4th of July holiday and summer!

Regards,

Jen

Poets United's Founder & President

Image credit: Pixabay.com

Poetry Corner * Dr. Archan Mehta

 

Political Rhetoric?

When was the last time

An “official,” that is,

A politician or bureaucrat

Gazed deeply into the eyes

Of a starving child,

Living in a remote village,

Dotting the landscape

Of our benighted country?

When was the last time

The rich and powerful

Shared a meal

With troubled farmers

Who toil in our fields?

When was the last time

A celebrity traveled

By foot to provide shelter

To the homeless?

When was the last time

Our so-called democracy

Provided a voice to

The voiceless, oppressed and marginalized

By actually counting their votes?

When was the last time

The voter had a choice

Between black versus white?

Who will focus

On the grey areas?

Who will envision

A nation as a

Many splendored thing?

Pray, which leader will

Rise, phoenix-like,

From the ashes,

And live to

Fight another day?

How will we make

Up for lost time since 1947?

When will our millionaires

And billionaires start

Paying their dues?

When will our government

Stop lining the pockets

Of the selected and chosen few?

When will we find

A seat at the table

At global seminars, conferences,

Convocations and assemblies?

When will we create

A welfare-oriented State

Directed toward the common weal?

When will we join

The community of nations

To find solutions to

Common challenges on planet Earth?

When will we join hands

With people from all over the world

To create a better world

In which everybody wins?

When will we stop dividing

Our world based on

Winners versus losers?

When will our planet

Earth achieve unity consciousness?

When will we learn to transcend

I, Me and Mine

And what’s in it for me?

And instead, help 

And support each other?

Will we be able to

Avoid World War Three?

Will we ever achieve

Peace and harmony?

Will we be able to

Convert hell on earth

To a heaven on earth?

Do we have hope

And optimism for tomorrow

On a planetary scale?

Can we look beyond

Our banal and trivial

And petty concerns

And, instead, learn 

To focus on our common humanity?

BIO:

Dr. Archan Mehta has earned a PhD. in Management. Currently, he is a Consultant and Writer based in India. In his free time, Dr. Mehta likes to stroll in the outdoors and party with close friends. He is also fond of meditation. Please feel free to reach out to the poet at archanm@hotmail.com at your convenience.