Category: Poetry Publisher: PublishAmerica
ISBN-10: 141370462X
Copyright: Jan 1 2003
Poetry from the heart!
This is a work of poetry from my heart
to yours. Words about family, Country, and life in general. Words to minister
to you!
To be published by Publish America
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Reviews for "WHISPERS OF LIFE"
Reviewed by Laurel Johnson
7/13/2003
Shirley Johnson is the author of several published books - A Divorced Mother Talks to God was her first. Two delightful children's books, Billy Brimly and Red and His Fur Hat quickly followed. This time, Ms. Johnson has given us a book of poetry. True to everything she does, Whispers of Life is a gift from the heart of a woman of faith.
The book is divided into several topics. The first group of poems addresses her thoughts and feelings after our national tragedy of 9/11.
In "Another Day" she captures clearly what so many of us were thinking on that awful day:
I sit and try to hide the tears
I'm still not sure what happened here
My world is shattered in pieces now
I hear a plane and hit the ground
In "Dear America" she writes from the spirit of an American serviceman who now fights the war in Iraq:
Dear America, remember me
I fight on the battlefield for Liberty
I stand proud for the Country I love
I am your brother, your father, your son
"I Know This Evil" is one of my favorites because of its quiet eloquence:
You've come to kill us, our very souls
To take our loved ones and cause us woes
To rip our hearts to tiny bits
And use our tears to fuel your ships
It isn't only her thoughts on terrorism and war the author shares with us. Tender tributes to her family and friends comprise the second segment of Whispers of Life. All are touching and thought provoking paeans to the people she loves in life or remembers in death. In the final segment, she ponders life and all its many trials. "Fleeting Life" expresses well her thoughts:
Why are these things always hidden
And not revealed till our eyes grow dim
The things that we deemed so important
Mean nothing at the end
I could continue quoting, but will end this review with an excerpt from
"Horses and Missiles":
Leaders are dignified, but ready to fight
Smiling broadly, eyes dark as night
Innocent bystanders watching their gaze
Not wanting at all to be a ploy in the game
Refugees, hunger, disease and the like
Socialite dinners, food by candlelight
Whispers of Life is a hearts cry against injustice, a pleading question to the Almighty God who says He loves us all, and a gentle protest at how swiftly life defeats us. Her poems are simple and rhyming, intense with sorrow and joy. If you like poetry you don't have to decipher, rhymes that will bring tears and smiles, you will want to read this book.
This book represents a thirty-day period of my poetry journal. Each poem addresses
the dominant thoughts occupying my mind during the early morning hours of a given
day.
