{"product_id":"soul-food-nourishing-poems-for-starved-minds","title":"Soul Food: Nourishing Poems for Starved Minds","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe anthology opens with a series of poems on human life and spiritual sustenance, starting with Rumi: ‘This being human is a guest house. \/ Each morning a new arrival…’ The poems which follow explore many ways of keeping body and soul together, offering food for thought on knowing yourself, living with nature, who or what is God… All are universal illuminations of the meaning of life, speaking to readers of all faiths as well as to searchers and non-believers.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoul Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eshows how poetry can help feed our hunger for meaning in times of spiritual starvation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoul Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eincludes Anna Akhmatova, Maya Angelou, Coleman Barks, William Blake, John Burnside, Paul Celan, Chuang-Tzu, Emily Dickinson, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jane Hirshfield, George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Kabir, Jane Kenyon, Lal Ded (Lalla), DH Lawrence, Denise Levertov, Thomas Merton, Czeslaw Milosz, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mary Oliver, Amrita Pritam, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rumi, St John of the Cross, Edith Södergran, Anna Swir, Wislawa Szymborska, Shinkichi Takahashi, RS Thomas, and many others…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA companion anthology to\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSoul Food\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eentitled\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bloodaxebooks.com\/ecs\/product\/soul-feast-1341\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSoul Feast: nourishing poems of hope and light\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003ewas published by Bloodaxe in 2024.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'These poems illuminate the path of life.' - Rachel Campbell-Johnston,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'These are poems for the human race at all times, be they celebratory or reflective.' - Margaret Speak,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eYorkshire Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'These poems will reconnect you with happiness, kindness, beauty and joy. They will teach you how to be here, now, fully aware and alive... Buy this book! You will be investing in happiness for days - and even dark lonely nights - to come.' - Anne Ashworth,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eUniversalist: The Journal of the Quaker Universalist Group\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'A friend gave me a copy of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoul Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eas a gift... I thought it was so good that I gave it away to another friend within a matter of days, and bought myself a new copy, which I also gave away... I continue to buy copies for friends... I have read this book through from beginning to end a number of times now, and each time I am left with my spirit uplifted and a wondrous sense of warm joy in my soul. Not only is each poem fine, but reading the whole collection reads feels like the privilege of sharing another human's spiritual journey for a while.' - Henry Morgan,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Merton Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'\u003ci\u003eSoul Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis an extremely attractive book. Of all the books lying about my house, more visitors have been drawn to wanting to borrow this than any other... It contains work by many of my favourite poets, but more importantly it whets my appetite with new discoveries... I recommend buying copies to keep and give away.' - Chris Kinsey,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eEnvoi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e‘Soul Food\u003c\/i\u003e, like another Bloodaxe anthology,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eDo Not Go Gentle: poems for funerals\u003c\/i\u003e, captures the elusive overlapping oval in the Venn diagram of poetry-that-is-serious and poetry-that-breaks-your-heart.’ – Martin Wroe,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eChurch Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Three books that come immediately to mind as gifts are the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoul Food\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eanthology, edited by Neil Astley and Pamela Robertson[-Pearce], because it contains such a diversity of works for an exploring mind to consider; A S J Tessimond's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eCollected Poems\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e- poetry that wants to fly, strains upward hopefully, but always is anchored in dark reality; and Mary Oliver's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThirst.'\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e- Ruth Baxendale,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003ePoetry News\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e(Christmas Books 2018)\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Poetry Pharmacy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55945069330816,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0714\/9436\/9563\/files\/soul_food.jpg?v=1751459786","url":"https:\/\/poetrypharmacy.live\/products\/soul-food-nourishing-poems-for-starved-minds","provider":"The Poetry Pharmacy","version":"1.0","type":"link"}