With Zen-like proverbs and gentle stances, this book provides brief but wise counseling in the form of humble admonitions. In kind directives like "In a grain of sand, imagine the expansive universe," it urges readers to remain considerate of life's smallest elements, for in those readers might find the largest lessons. In gentle urgings, other verses in this book act as guiding lights to and confirmations of one's purpose: "I am a teacher, scholar, and entrepreneur / traveler, philosopher, and soothsayer." In confessions of devotion, eros becomes the steel tempered by the collection's more reasoned verses: "In the thunder, fire, and fury of my soul / I console to comfort of your arms." By its end, both the collection's narrator and the readers reach multiple epiphanies at the personal and existential levels.

With lines that affirm "It is the poet, not the poem," this collection reminds readers of the individual's infinite power and how each individual on this planet is like a tiny universe waiting to reveal its mysteries to the others. In this volume, the mysteries—internal and external—of life and self both awe and educate, transform and transfigure. As a universe of its own, comprised of verses that act like planets and stars swirling together to provide an understanding of the misunderstood and hidden, this compilation becomes a bright illumination in a seemingly hopeless world where the self and the individual erode under collective and societal expectations and pressures. Because of its metaphysical, philosophical nature, this collection will appeal to poetry readers seeking a meditative read. Meanwhile, those just entering the world of poetry will find it a comforting gateway leading into the genre.

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