Flowing Rivers
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Flowing Rivers is a collection of fifty-two short poems, written in the style of Japanese Tanka poetry. They form, in essence, a contemplation or meditation on the changing events during approximately one year of the author's life. The poems respond to illness in friends and close family members, to public tragedy, and to love and joy. Resistance The face of darkness, With fierce determination, Assails our senses. I refuse the growing gloom, Intent on bright tomorrows. Helpless Caress life's edges, So sharp and unforgiving; Blood flows from fresh wounds. All my binding skills are lost, Useless to stop the bleeding. Love's Blessing Flowing together, A touch for tomorrow's life; Love's own arrival. The past becomes the future With a kiss and a blessing. As a form of meditation these poems can help us all greet each day as our own moment and our own future.
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About the Book
This book contains a selection of fifty-two short poems, written in the style of Japanese Tanka poetry, and written over a period of slightly over one year. They are arranged in simple chronological order, as they were written, and they contemplate the changing context and mood of the author's life during this time. As these poems were written there were dark periods, when friends and close family members struggled with serious illness. There were also times of public anger and tragedy such as the massacre of innocents at Newtown, Connecticut, and the bombings at the Boston Marathon. There were also many moments of love and joy. The act of contemplation can help all of us find our way through the dark moments of our lives and fully appreciate the joys that surround us.
One poem in this book, Still Singing, captures the need for us all to embrace each day as our moment and our future.
I greet each morning, Every change brought by the dawn. I accept them all. Embrace the soft new rhythms, And the call of life's new song.About the Author
Dr. Robert W. Barker's first book, The Devil's Chosen, a recent winner of the The Eric Hoffer Award, examined the context of life decisions, by the victims, the perpetrators, and the bystanders in the time of the Holocaust. Flowing Rivers is his third book of poetry with these verses written in the style of Japanese Tanka poetry. Along with his earlier books of poetry, A Year of Haiku and Pathways and Passages, Flowing Rivers is in many ways an exercise in meditation. The poems are a contemplation of the context of life, as we find ourselves alternately buoyed by love, joy and happiness, or struggling with pain, despair and anger. The act of contemplation of the changing context and mood of our lives allows us to persevere through difficult times and to fully appreciate the ultimate joyfulness of life. Our lives are like an ever changing river, which we must navigate with a keen eye for the future. Dr. Barker currently lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.