The Mystical Epiphany

I would like to share with you the preface to my new book, "The Mystical Epiphany", to be released soon:

This collection of poems was inspired by the wonder and beauty of the outdoors, of being in nature, and realizing that we're part of it.  The idea that consciousness or spirit is infused in everything is the central theme of this book.  My main focus has not been on the actual poetic rhyme, stanza or meter, but in bringing out the imagery through carefully chosen words set to free verse.  I wanted these poems to take the reader where I had travelled, to let them see what I had seen, to feel how I had felt, to express the beauty in everything.

I had the good fortune to do quite a bit of hiking and travelling in 2014, so I used all of these experiences to write these poems.  Places such as Oregon, California, Alabama, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Peru were the actual catalyst for my poetry, and these landscapes show up everywhere in this book.  This wide geographical area left me with an abundance and diverse set of ideas to draw upon.  If anything, this is a book about places!!  These places become a part of you, they seep into your subconscious just below the surface, but they always remain.  Imagery streams forth revealing lonely sharp gray cliffs, seascapes, salty waves, ephemeral mists, and glistening veils of moonlight!  These are the places where I discover the sacred once again, this is where I reconnect with the land, and the land brings out the best in me!

Another thought that ran through my head while writing this collection of poetry was more philosophical in nature.  What can we take with us when we die?  We can't bring our cars, our houses, our "things", so what truly is important?  How will we be remembered?  How can I leave my mark? I remember hiking and thinking, "you know what, my footprints are my stamp of existence".  This simple idea is that you are possibly the only thing you can take with you, so make it worthwhile!  Is the gift of the body simply a vessel for the spirit to take action in this material world?  We should use this special opportunity to do things, go out and explore, get involved, etc.  Make your actions your stamp of existence, they are the only things we can truly leave behind. 

The theme that consciousness or spirit runs through everything can be found in abundance in this book.  It wasn't intentional, the muses just seemed to have pushed me in this direction.  Lines such as the following express this feeling, "I found you today in an autumn breeze, a summer storm, in the crystalline form of a simple snowflake, in the beautiful pastel flower petals of spring", "Listen very closely, I hear the great spirit in the fragrant breeze, I see the sacred in each cottonwood tree", "Everything is a revelation, a sign, a symbol. As each hawk passes, each coyote cries, my senses seem to flourish and blossom", "I discover consciousness in the echoes of magnificent snow capped mountains".

In the end, the mystical epiphany is there for all of us to discover.  We just have to go out and simply experience it by enjoying a beautiful sunset or sunrise, hiking mountain paths or the rolling sands of the dunes, or walking along the seashore and watching the waves hit the beach.  In closing I will leave you with the following verses that reveal this "mystical epiphany", "I am you and you are me, the sacred, the mountains, sea and sky rest within a magnificent totality", "Now I know you go on forever, and forever you will be".  I hope you enjoy the book!