Paul Burnore
DESCRIPTION:
Paul Burnore wrote poetry to manage grief after his son Matthew’s death at age 18. Outside Gravity contains poems about loss, grief, and coming to terms with death and life. The result was self-discovery, perspective and acceptance. Many poems grapple with loss and the crippling grief that follows. Then came a balance with broader reflections about death in the midst of life and love, and the healing balm of the natural world.
Writing poetry can be grief therapy. It allows a person to channel feelings and confused thoughts by writing them down spontaneously, writing the bare bones, and then going back to shape them more deliberately until they say exactly what you feel. Choosing words carefully allows you think more deeply. Revising poems allows emotions to be more precise. It’s the craft of poetry that does the work. It enables exploration of your inner world more thoroughly and you achieve a balance with the outer world. You become comfortable with death and grieving as you play with words. Human frailties and tragedies become more familiar. In the fullness of time you’re better able to accept and value sadness as part of the wider scope of life. In doing so the world opens up, and you in turn open up to the beauty of the natural world and, finally, come to accept the bearable weight of the human condition.
The final section features poems about human resolve and resilience, symbolized by the mythical hero Ulysses, who is contemporary in his complexity and drive, and who often lost to the gods but triumphed in the end.
Outside Gravity: Poems from a Personal Journey
BOOK DETAILS:
PUBLISHER: United Writers Press
PUBLICATION DATE: December 7, 2022
LANGAUGE: English
ASIN:
ISBN 10: 1952248450
ISBN 13: 978-1952248450
AVAILABLE FORMATS:
REVIEWS:
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Annie
'A wailing sound moving out into the air…."
I'd like to introduce you to Paul Burnore's "Outside Gravity: Poems from a Personal Journey" in a show-and-tell rather than in a review, because it feels more like I'm introducing a friend than a book.
There is much beautiful writing on grief, nature and love to be found in this book. Following are examples taken out of their format on the printed page and offered here as prose. My Kindle version of "Outside Gravity" does not follow the author's intended format.
My apologies for breaking phrases out of context: In offering flavors of Paul Burnore's writing, I've slighted substance.
Be forewarned: Reading this book will cause pain. Burnore's poetry evokes grief — the grief he feels at the loss of one beloved. His words parallel my own remembrance of loss and give shape to my grief.
In "Requiem" he writes: "I do not dream of you. Strange, that from The land of the dead you dominate my thoughts, but leave my dreams alone. And why not? For Your presence in my brain seizes whole my Consciousness, shutters up the windows of my Dreams .... your early death has stopped the essence and the possibility of dreams...."
In "Outside Gravity": "Your absence does not mean non-being But transformation out of human sight With no house address or place we recognize. I guess at the other dimension you live in Where lives lack matter, become waves and particles Translated into factors of light, outside gravity."
In "Old Photograph": "What good is an old photograph? It helps us remember what he looked like, some would say, so that we won't forget. It reminds us of the force of his smile and the mischievous glint in his eyes they say, and surely the confidence in his walk. I say it is a fiction and hides a thousand truths that we should know without the false and tinted counterfeit of his face. It's one moment captured out of a thousand million moments which were not the same and had no smile or glint —which was false?"
After journeys through grief, his poetry moves toward healing through nature.
From "Past Midnight on the Lake": "The orange moon is behind the trees, kneeling for morning prayers, barely above the horizon, sluggish and gauzed over by clouds oblate as if sat upon, uninterested in the silence of the earth. After awhile, sitting hushed, the lake is no longer quiet, still and dark but raucous in its wind sounds.... So that everything that is secreted by the earth and moon is sublime, with only the dip of my paddle and swish of my kayak to keep time."
And in poems like "Lighter than Air," the poetry moves toward renewal through love: "Lighter than air The currents of your smooth lips lift being, lift mind And leave this granite world behind."
I hope this will entice you to read "Outside Gravity." Perhaps these words of Rumi from the book's epigraph will help: "We become these words we say, a wailing sound moving out into the air...."
Poilu
A richly relevant read.
I must admit my skepticism when I saw the title subhead: Poems from a Personal Journey. One is inclined to wonder if someone else’s personal journey will have much relevance for the rest of us. As it turns out, I was very mistaken. This is in fact a rich collection of deep memories, experience, and insights rendered in language that will resonate with many of us and prompt closer examination and re-reads. The first chapter is largely focused on the author’s profound grief at the loss of a young son. Here we are exposed to many aspects of the pain of that loss and how the author has managed to cope with this - as if outside the realm of gravity. This is an experience very few of us can fully relate to, but we can all surely learn something from it as well. Keep in mind, there is much more to this work than an expression of grief. Among other topics, the poems also reflect on the simple joys of nature in all its forms; the deep and abiding love between a parent and child; the mysteries of life and death; spirituality and hope; and, in a wonderfully rendered redux of Tennyson’s Ulysses monologue, our existential dilemma. This work is replete with words and phrases that are rich in depth and meaning, the imagery is powerful, and the use of simile, symbolism, metaphor and irony (“For my friend, may the soundless trumpets of God guide those who have fallen asleep” – pg. 63) is often very effective. Are there weaknesses? Well, yes, there were times when the choice of word or an idea eluded me or left me puzzled. Of course, some poems resonated more with me than others. Is it just me, I ask? In reply, let’s take a lesson from the author himself who in the poem “The Art of Poetry” (pp. 153-154) states “There is no urgency to persuade those who cannot hear but simply to just get it right… To revisit and revise repeatedly… and then, artlike, let it go.” (my italics) So, regardless of any real or perceived imperfections on my unstudied part, I would highly recommend this book because it’s a pleasure to read, it’s full of insight and meaning, and I believe it will enrich the life of others as it did mine.
Patti H
The words in this paperback should be carved into rock
Some of these poems make you feel like you're walking in stars, and the stunning cover starts the journey. Other poems in this collection have so much weight it feels like the words in this paperback should be carved into rock. The way you have written about the death of your son Matthew is something I have never experienced before in writings about great loss. It's beautiful and heartbreaking and affirming. I like the way you use words that are usually saved for poems about happy things, like candy, flowers, sleep, chocolate, dawn, grins, jokes, photographs, even squirrels. I've heard people describe grief as leaving a hole in the person left behind and that you have to learn to deal with that hole for the rest of your life. I kept thinking, a hole would leave you lighter, and what you've described has weight. In these poems time turns to stone and so do the stars. You ask, "Are you afraid I will forget you?" and I believe that no one who reads this collection will ever forget him, or you. I am purchasing this book for the poetry lovers in my family and telling them it really is a collection of moonlit particles. I'm also suggesting they start with "Rocky Road Ice Cream" and finish with my favorite, "A Common Favor." (And no one over fifty should skip your self portrait poems!)
Amazon Customer
Outstanding First Book
I just finished reading Paul Burnore's Outside Gravity . . . for the second time. Outstanding poetry. Beautifully written. Complex but easy to read. As a father, Burnore has experienced what all parents fear - the loss of a child. You will be guided through Burnore's journey, "a series of steps or milestones, from the crushing despair of losing a child unexpectedly to a man gradually feeling the ground beneath him..." As Burnore lives day to day, week to week, month to month, he gradually rediscovers the beauty of nature and the joy of his other son, who has shared this journey with him. I love this book and look forward to finding more poetry written by Paul Burnore.
Words lover
Beauty through the pain
Thank you, Mr. Burnore, for sharing your pain, your love, and your talent with us. Outside Gravity is a remarkable and beautiful achievement - it has become my "go to" gift for anyone suffering a deep loss. Everyone I've shared it with loves it. Thank you for applying your honesty and creativity to your losses in a way that enriches every reader.
Amazon Customer
Mr Burnore writes from the depths of his soul on ...
Mr Burnore writes from the depths of his soul on a very personal level about life & the questions we all ponder & ask ourselves. The poems are raw, tender, expressive & completely engaging - a truly warm & touching journey of development & growth
I will be re-visiting Outside Gravity many times.
LL
... want to be swept away with emotion from reading good poetry then Paul Burmore's poems are for you
If you want to be swept away with emotion from reading good poetry then Paul Burmore's poems are for you.
it's fun to feel young again
outside gravity means outside of being grave
As the book's quote from Aristotle hinted at, one has to get a little bit crazy to get a little bit sane. These poems are rapid-fire blasts of imagery that take you out of your normal realm of thinking (thus: outside gravity!) where you can experience pure emotion. Why should we all always be so grave? Get outside of that gravity!
Venus Victor-guild
Lovely crafting of heartfelt emotions and words The best of both worlds Open
Lovely crafting of heartfelt emotions and words The best of both worlds Open, honest and personal: a look into a man's heart, mind and journey.