Words from the Heart
by Bernadette Williams
West Bow Press


"A rose is a flower that blossoms into a perfect form."

Poet and wordsmith Williams offers vignettes covering a variety of significant subjects. Here, religious love, human passion, motherly kindness, and grandmotherly care are extolled and intermingled with Christian scripture. In reference to the biblical book of Genesis, readers are reminded that "respect is required of all people" because God created all and all breathe the same air. These poetically conceived works express gratitude for God's eternal care, as when Williams recalls, "the voice of God called out my name." Some explore the frustrations of earthly love that "has faded away like the wind that blows" so that it's time to "say farewell." Drawing from the imagery of nature, Williams constructs word pictures of climbing to high peaks, the "grace of many flowers," and the simple power of "Colors." And there is an overarching call for everyone to "make a stand" for unity that transcends skin color and family circumstance through God's oversight and mercy.

Williams has organized her work well, gliding gently from thought to thought, from outward observation to inner realization. She is clearly touched by the need to share her insights with others as someone who has encountered the physical world in all its subtleties and found revitalization in the solace of scripture. She is thus able to make her reader believe in the sometimes harsh or sorrowful authenticity of her experience while also lifting the mood with her powerful exhortations to and praise of God, who has so often come to her rescue. This short, well-considered collection could inspire others, not only to contemplate and appreciate the lively content but perhaps to build thoughtful poems from their own experience as Williams has accomplished so well.

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