Category: Poetry Publisher: Augustine Sam
ISBN-10: 1508480400
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 124
Copyright: Feb 14, 2015
ISBN-13: 9781508480402
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
"This collection deserved to be published. A marriage of Old World charm and Modern Day romance, its well-composed verses are a prime example of thought-provoking verse from a poet of insight and genius."
- Anna Marie Fritz
Author of The Dream Garden & Anna-Versery poetry series.
Augustine Sam presents
FLASHES OF EMOTION
Flashes of Emotion is a book of romantic poetry, a selection that allows the reader to tap into the poet's insights into a wide variety of topics from life and love to death and drudgery - a collection that showcases Augustine Sam's lively, refreshing and innovative style. A 'must have' for anyone who has ever experienced love, pain, defeat, or joy.
Excerpt
ANGUISH & PASSION
Last night I saw
An image of compulsive obsession
A marvel of life's disarming weaponry
So haunting
So credible
So utterly terrifying
I saw fire in her eyes
Speaking volumes without a voice
From the warped precincts of my hermitage, I strained to hear
She said, Reach - just reach.
Out of the rank luxuriance of a liberated passion,
I thought jagged ironies -
Me, a lifetime away from virility,
Could this be love I am feeling?
About this questionable reality, I will make no fuss
But about misplaced passions and seductions, I shall speak
And the woes of my amputated member, I shall tell
But who can understand
The anguish
Of an amputated mind?
Professional Reviews
Praise for Sam's poetry anthology
"Journalists can be a pretty soul-less bunch at times, and while they are great at communicating hard facts, they are generally less adept at expressing their feelings and their sensitivities. That's not true of all journalists, of course, and it certainly isn't true of Augustine Sam who has somehow managed to combine a career in mainstream journalism with an equally successful career as a creative writer and poet extraordinaire, picking up awards and accolades left, right and center for amazing poems. This anthology allows us to tap into Augustine's insights on a wide variety of topics from life and love to death and drudgery - a collection that showcases this journo-poet's lively, refreshing and innovative style."
- Andy Smith, FRGS FCIJ
Editor
The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Journalists, U.K.
A wonderful collection
A variety of challenging themes are explored; love, religion, race and mental illness to name a few; yet it is presented so beautifully it is not difficult to read about these issues. These poems are like any good piece of art; shedding like on their subject, but not forcing the viewer to look at it, just allowing it to be seen as it truly is.
At times the poems are structured unorthodoxly in order to better convey their message, the meaning of the poetry literally reshaping what is on the page. They display an ambitious use of language, containing an array of emotions which are communicated brilliantly. The works demonstrate clearly the author's literacy skill and I look forward to any future offerings from them.
I had intended to read these poems less quickly, allowing time to read a few and then contemplate them, however this collection is so mesmerising I found myself reading it in just two sittings. The flow and rhythm of the poetry is enticing and almost addictive. However this is the kind of work you can read over and over again and still find new meaning and I have no fear that I won't have a lot to ponder after reading this, the material in this book is enough to keep your mind occupied and your emotions whirling for a long time after you finish it.
- Chelsy
from Amazon.co.uk
Gems ...
Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite
Augustine Sam's Flashes of Emotion: A Collections of Poems is romantic poetry that looks into a vast array of subjects: love, pain, death and other life matters that evoke our sentiments. Having read his previous work, Take Back the Memory, a contemporary women's fiction, I was curious to get to know him as a poet. I wasn't disappointed. His poems are written in a vivid and refreshing style. This makes the collection easy to relate to even by the casual readers of poetry like me. Sam's compilation is pleasurable to read and to reread.
The book opens with the thought-provoking poems under the segment Lips and Wits. My favorite, however, is A Solitary Observer under the segment Musings.
I stand in pensive solitude and watch
As life, in its omnipotence, swirls around me
Sucking me into a kaleidoscope of its timeless grace
Dazzling me with contrasting colors
Sam knows how to put across emotions and thoughts, and they resonate from every poem. Personally, the collection as a whole seems to be mostly tinged with a certain somberness or, if I may say, a metaphoric darkness for me. Other readers, however, might have different interpretations.
In Sam's own words, this book is definitely "a little anthem to celebrate the human spirit." For poetry lovers, Flashes of Emotion is certainly a collection of poems that they want to sink their teeth into. The depth of sentiment and reflection explored in each poem is more than enough for anyone to contemplate in a long time.
Fifty-two poems, intellectual and emotional.
-- Jim Bennett for Kindle Book Review
As always, do not let my star count override your own judgement of content. More on the stars, counting, and my rating challenges later. Let me describe some of Sam’s book for you.
As always, google anything you’re not entirely certain of. Sam’s vocabulary is large, as is his geography.
You will find fresh imagery, as in Italian Cemetery, where we find this: "Left ajar, this rusted metal gate, like the heady souls lying beyond, /Would not do obeisance to the wind." You will find social commentary, for example, in Elegy for the Captive, this: "Critics are the brushers of noblemen’s robes."
You will find relationships galore here, for example, In Gestures and Allusions, this: "And therein lies the difference, you see /For without sound the unsound mind is dead /But the sound mind is not deaf /To … //The volumes spoken into a single hug /The dialogue unwrapped in a gaze." After this, in The Eyes of a Beholder, this: "You are smooth /Delicate /Bizarre /And sensual /Like a pretty witch trapped in a suave, evocative work of art."
If you’re looking for a brilliant longer poem, turn to My Last Chance. If you google carefully, you'll find out what Mezza-Selva is. For a complex love poem, turn to Passions and Words.
Those scanning for the tiny carps can give up. An occasional page-break misplaced. Not even a typo. In short, nothing. Back to the good stuff.
If you're looking for a sad love poem, turn to The Greatest Gift. It is autumn in Florence, a repeated refrain that smoothly marches the reader to the gently foreshadowed conclusion. This is a favorite in this collection. If it's social commentary you're looking for, you will find it here.
Prejudice tells us the story of Daisy, who normally flitted through life, accidentally getting onto an all-black train to Harlem.
This should give you some idea of the range of these fifty-two poems. I've mentioned just seven of them.
Back to the star count. Usually this is the hardest part of a review, deciding on a single number. My personal guidelines, when doing an 'official' KBR review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. Sam’s style may take a bit of getting used to, but that voice produced several favorites in my notes. Five stars it is, and extremely recommended.
-- Kindle Book Review Team member
Reviewed by Anna Marie Fritz
7/6/2005
Here's wishing you all kinds of success with your lovely book.
This one will be an inspiration to all of your poet and journalist peers, as well as readers of exceptional verse.
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