Firebird

This is a work of extraordinary power and eloquence, echoing the prophetic voice of Rumi for our time. Aptly subtitled 'a poetic journey of awakening the inner fire', the book takes the reader on a transformative rollercoaster through the processes of evocation, initiation, involution and elevation to find and express the authentic voice of the soul. The style is laconic and the engaged reader is fully caught up in the alchemical momentum as the heart opens to abundant overflowing and we are challenged to love 'when bombs fall/ when women are raped' – a nightmare from which we need to awaken in order to give birth to a nourishing new culture 'costing not less than everything', as T.S. Eliot put it: 'becoming essential/ is the call of our time', realising our oneness and wholeness in union and action, 'fully surrendered/ to life's flow' and suspended in stillness so as to access our deepest knowing: 'become a living temple/ made of light/ with arms so wide/ that you embrace/ the world/ as one.' We are seeking the Beloved, but the Beloved is also seeking us – we can rise passionately and courageously from the ashes while also plumbing the depths of life 'fully exposed/ immersed in oneness/ rising, living, dying/ every day.' I specially loved his poem on the garden birds (p. 95) where, exquisitely,

'each chirp

each whisper

is a blessing

how rich these days

of silent presence

wordless stillness

when garden

birds and soul

are all but unborn notes

in life's one song.'

The last poem asks who will remember these truths? These are universal and, as Albert Schweitzer remarked, like fruits on the tree in each summer, they need to be re-expressed in every generation. This is just such a potent expression for our own time.