Humanity in the dark and in the light

When I read a publisher’s description about their books, I take it with a grain of salt. After all, the publisher is doing what they should be doing, which is promoting their book, so when I read Night Publishing’s promotional blurb, I shrugged it off. And then I read the book. Here is what Night Publishing has to say about it:

“Once in every while a unique vision emerges without warning and without precedent, that follows no trends, is virtually impossible to copy, and that has a resonance that grows and grows until it risks taking you over entirely.

Such a book is 'Not a Man'.

At its core, it's the story of a ten year old boy, Shuki Bolkiah, who is so grossly abused that he will never grow up to be a normal adult human being.

But it is so much more than that …..

Firstly, there is the writing that is almost like a whispered prayer, a sacred text.

Then there is the abuser who really does love the boy he abuses and wishes to care for him forever.

…. and there is the country, harsh and magnificent, where deadly feuds spring from nowhere and many women are treated far worse than Shuki, ill-used and left to starve.

Finally, there is Shuki himself, so irresistibly beautiful, so vulnerable, so intelligent, and so deadly in his turn.”

I could write many more words about this book, but I won’t, other than to add these few comments: This is a very well-written book by an exceptionally talented writer, but it you are not likely to find it an easy book to read. Like life, some of it is very hard to bear. And finally, there are these words by the publisher that says it all: “This is not a man. This is not a book. This is humanity in the dark and in the light. This is hope.” Eloquently said, and very true.

“Not a Man” is an unforgettable book, and I give it a definite 5 star rating. 

A powerful new book about the tsunami disaster in Japan in March, 2011

Keiko Takahashi: Beyond the Vast Wasteland: 24 Poems and Photographs of life after the Great Earthquake of East Japan. Tokyo, Sampoh Publishing Co;, Ltd, 2011. English translation by William L. Brooks, adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University. Photographs by Kei Ogata and Hidesato Iwamura.

My wife and I became aware that something big was happening on March 11, 2011 when tremors began to shake our Sapporo condominium, and escalating in intensity. Turning on our TV, we watched in horror as the tsunami swept over a vast area sweeping everything in its path, then swept back again out to sea. I remember saying to her: “Honey, this is like watching a war unfold. Northeast Japan is under attack.” The visuals are still still chillingly awe-inspiring. I’ve never in my life seen such utter devastation unfold in so short a time.

Keiko Takahashi's poems are a fitting tribute to the people of Northeast Japan, beautifully written and each one matched with an unforgettable photo. 

“If this is not an outrage,” she writes in one of her poems “in requiem”, "What else can it be called?

Beyond anyone’s control

People, their homes, their land

Assaulted, smashed, butchered

And a brutal wasteland appeared.

Overwhelming

Destruction before us

We know not what to do

We stand motionless.

...

Human beings

May be powerless.

But, what if

The prayers rising up from this darkness

And people’s actions that turn into prayers

Become a string of lights?

There I would see the only hope.

I would call this the ultimate miracle.” 

In another poem she writes,

“Let us now listen to the voices

Of innocent souls

That have fallen to their deaths in the ground. 

...

Voices continue to echo

In the land where everything was lost.

Walk the vast wasteland and beyond.”

In the final poem --

"People live in places

Where trials and tribulations swirl

Where light and darkness intersect

This is a wasteland that slopes mercilessly

Toward devastation and disorder.

Yet in such a wasteland,

People are walking,

Blazing a path of hope." 

These are hopeful poems, courageous poems, poems that challenge. And because they are, they apply as well to Gaza, Somalia and all other places where mindless violence sweeps with tsunami like force through land and lives. 

Much has been written and produced about the disaster, its aftermath, and the suffering, stoicism and spirit of the region’s people. Keiko Takahashi’s remarkable book is one of the best I have read. Published late last year in Japanese, it was released in English just this month. I've read through it several times. It's a book I'll return to time and again through the days ahead. 

A 5-star read.

Available online from Sampoh Publishing Company, Ltd., Tokyo at http://www.sampoh.co.jp/english/order/order.html 

Magical Poems and Legendary Tales

A review of Olivia Wells: “Stories and Poems in the Moment”. Night Publishing, June 2011.

“We are human beings,” writes Olivia Wells, “not human doings, and in every way we are made up of many colours, some dark, some light, some demanding, some gentle.

The dark and demanding are necessary for us to take action and the gentle and spiritual are for nurturing.

When we accept all that we are, then we can accept all that is in others.”

So begins a wonderful journey through simple, legend-like stories and beautiful, compassionate poetry like Take a Leaf

Take a leaf,

from the heart of a friend,

it is there to share with you

spend it wisely,

the love that it brings

is valid for time long

and a day.

Measure it and you will see

That it reaches beyond the

sunrise

and slips between your fingers

if you let it go.

Be gentle ..

it is intended

just for you.

There are also darker poems like “Mirror Me”, “Reflections on Alzheimer’s and Autism” and “Ode to a Son”:

Your demonic death

washed my soul in deep sorrow,

and yet, there is hope,

for you.

Now the child wraith can bloom

In gentle fields of soft sun,

and grow in the light of love

that I send to you.

Knowing that the life you lived

though short was a lesson

to be learned

the hard way.

May I thank you, and wish

that this song of love

will follow your every step

to a new place.

The stories, written like legends, are pure magic. “Silk, Ruby, Ebony, and Clover”, “Lao Tsu and the Tears”, and Doorinna the Snake Dragon are but three of them, each one the kind of story children will devour again and again and again.

I can’t really say enough about this wonderful little book. It is a gem.

A clear ***** read that will be a favorite for generations.