SHADES OF LOVE: EVOLUTIONARY POEMS, PROSES & PONDERINGS is the 3rd book of poetry by Jasiri S.M. wa Uhuru and is a collection of the close to 40 love, life, spiritual & erotic poems contained in his 1st two books, LOST BETWEEN RHYME & REASON and EVOLUTIONARY SUICIDE. It's full of beautiful photos & artwork. Each poem appears on the page in a very creative & eye-catching layout. The fonts, lettering & type-style were chosen to reflect the individual personality of each poem to give the reader even more of an enjoyable ride as they take a journey inside the heart, soul & mind of the author as he paints a mental mural to express & convey the array of deep emotion, undeniable imagery & exacting intellect in each poem. In addition, SHADES OF LOVE includes a number of my brief but detailed & thought provoking personal views & understandings & ponderings on love, life, spiritual evolution etc.

Not being a man, I bleed like this. -Bhanu Kapil, "What is the shape of your body?"

A meditation book for women seeking to raise to their self-esteem & connect more fully with themselves.

Pratyabhijñahrdayam, non-dual yoga and meditation teacher Joan Ruvinsky offers up a beautifully illustrated interpretive translation of one of the foundational texts of Kashmiri Shaivism -- twenty short verses that address fundamental and universal questions. Part poetry, part guidebook, part art, it conveys the richness and incandescence so characteristic of the lineage without losing sight of the last 400 years of philosophical inquiry, spiritual revelation, and scholarship. In the footsteps of the Tantric masters of the medieval period -- who were not only great yogis but also accomplished scholars, poets, musicians -- Ruvinsky embraces the body, mind, and senses as pathways to enlightenment. In her distinctly poetic and down-to-earth fashion Ruvinsky reminds us to live directly, moment to moment, in the mystery. You already have what you need. She intones, All contemplations are valid. There are no right answers, no dead ends, only pathways in the infinite.

Fifty years of poems and wry insight celebrating one of the most dynamic careers in twentieth century American poetry.

This remarkable book brings us an intimate and moving interpretation of the life and work of Charles Darwin, by Ruth Padel, an acclaimed British poet and a direct descendant of the famous scientist. Charles Darwin, born in 1809, lost his mother at the age of eight, repressed all memory of her, and poured his passion into solitary walks, newt collecting, and shooting. His five-year voyage on H.M.S. Beagle, when he was in his twenties, changed his life. Afterward, he began publishing his findings and working privately on groundbreaking theories about the development of animal species, including human beings, and he made a nervous proposal to his cousin Emma. Padel’s poems sparkle with nuance and feeling as she shows us the marriage that ensued, and the rich, creative atmosphere the Darwins provided for their ten children. Charles and Emma were happy in each other, but both were painfully aware of the gulf between her deep Christian faith and his increasing religious doubt. The death of three of their children accentuated this gulf. For Darwin, death and extinction were nature’s way of developing new species: the survival of the fittest; for Emma, death was a prelude to the afterlife. These marvelous poems—enriched by helpful marginal notes and by Padel’s ability to move among multiple viewpoints, always keeping Darwin at the center—bring to life the great scientist as well as the private man and tender father. This is a biography in rare form, with an unquantifiable depth of family intimacy and warmth.

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION In the nine expansive, searching stories of A Lucky Man, fathers and sons attempt to salvage relationships with friends and family members and confront mistakes made in the past. An imaginative young boy from the Bronx goes swimming with his group from day camp at a backyard pool in the suburbs, and faces the effects of power and privilege in ways he can barely grasp. A teen intent on proving himself a man through the all-night revel of J’Ouvert can’t help but look out for his impressionable younger brother. A pair of college boys on the prowl follow two girls home from a party and have to own the uncomfortable truth of their desires. And at a capoeira conference, two brothers grapple with how to tell the story of their family, caught in the dance of their painful, fractured history. Jamel Brinkley’s stories, in a debut that announces the arrival of a significant new voice, reflect the tenderness and vulnerability of black men and boys whose hopes sometimes betray them, especially in a world shaped by race, gender, and class—where luck may be the greatest fiction of all.