Hark thee, oh weary traveller, scrolling down the posts, listen with your heart what the words say to you
Take a moment, savor them, laugh with joy, the beauty that understanding the words bestow on you…
My review
Such is the ethereal quality of Rich Marcello’s words in his book The Long Body That Connects Us All. In this vast literary world, there are some words which add meaning to life, some which explain the meaning of life. But rarely are there words which just breathe in life. Rich Marcello’s book is one such which sings the sonnets of life.
It is said the beauty of the heart is reflected in the purity of the notes that it sings. Rich’s clear notes are heard all through the poems in his compilation of sixty one poems. Rich has flung a note into the air, and it resonates back in all our hearts.
His book starts with — a piece of bark —
I know the tree is in great pain now as vulnerable as I am,
having lost its armor, its beauty, its sleeve of hope
a poem filled with so much pain and grief, that a heart cannot help but overfill with emotions and fall down as tears. Beautiful, poignant, heart warming.
Rich Marcello, a poet extraordinaire, has taken his life experiences and put them into lyrical words from every walk of life. His words tell us how to be a good father, a good man, and a good human. In the humdrum of life, where the pace is fast, emotions are low, Rich’s words act as a mirror, to reflect back, to think, to analyse what is important, to enrich our core and go back to the roots.
We belong to us first before we belong to the world is brought forth in his poem belong to no one
On most days, days of normal hours,
fill the small simple moments with kindness and compassion,
And belong to no one except yourself.
Rich’s poems emote the pathway of life, some lonely, some together, but all have a goodness in them. He has spun pure gold with his thoughts to words, a complete work, where each poem reflects the pathway of life, each of us is on. Whatever be the strife of life, his poems have a spiritual quality in making us think and bringing us back to humanity, kindness, and love
I read the book twice, once to get a gist of the entire saga, and second to understand each word and each line. I had to take a pause in between poems, to imbibe the word, allow it to settle in my brain, to enjoy the flavor which the meaning brought, and to bathe in the enlightenment, when the understood words brought joy and light.
The words in the poem Sunlit and Suffering brought light to my life, when Rich says
But I’ve lived long enough to know he can’t hear me now
So, instead, I pray forgiveness washes over him instead of snlight
The darkness of heart is only relieved by the light of forgiveness, so beautifully portrayed in his poem
I generally read the book, front to back, and I loved the acknowledgement the poet has made to his family especially to his son to be a good human to be a good father, hoping that his words resonate in his son forever.
Words from the poem the long body
Mostly may you accept the love in each other and in yourselves.
For it’s that gift that lets you see clearly
the long body that connects us all
Mr. Rich Marcello’s words resonated in my heart, and his love for his wife and son made me a complete fan of his words. Bellissima!!
My rating : 5 stars
About the Author
Rich Marcello is a poet, a songwriter and musician, a creative writing teacher at Seven Bridges’ Writer Collaborative, and the author of three novels, “The Color of Home,” “The Big Wide Calm,” and “The Beauty of the Fall.” Rich’s books deal with life’s big questions: love, loss, creativity, community, aging, selfdiscovery. His novels are rich with characters and ideas, crafted by a natural storyteller, with the eye and the ear of a poet. For Rich, writing and art making is about connection, or as he says, about making a difference to a least one other person in the world, a goal he strives to achieve each day as an artist and a teacher. Rich lives in Massachusetts on a lake with his family and two Newfoundlands, Ani and Shaman. He is currently working on his fourth novel, “The Latecomers.”
Author Contact Details
Book blurb
Provocative and profound, Rich Marcello’s poems are compact but expansive, filled with music as seductive as their ideas, and focused mostly on how to be a good man. This is a collection of deep passion and wisdom for fathers, husbands, and sons, but also for mothers, wives, and daughters, many who began with a longing for the things they were taught to desire by their forefathers, only to later discover a different path, one lit by loss and welcoming of the vulnerable, one made of the long body that connects us all.
Product Details
Publication date : 21st January, 2018
Publisher : Langdon Street Press
Language : English
Available on Amazon
Book links
A book of poems
59 Responses
Well reviewed…luvd the format
Thank you… Some days sometimes, the words appear. Thank you for reading and liking it
Welcome Ma’am…yeah words never deceive…
I am Shalini sir.
I guess this is a cue for my hugh not so welcomed formalities…😂
Glad to bump into ur blog… Shalini 😊☺️
Hahaha yes true😂😂😉😉
Thank you. Glad to meet you too
Pleasure all mine…🤗
😊😊
Wow a doc turned writer… impressive
Roy!!!! Haha… Yp did 30 years in medicine… Now I am on to discovering myself… I can write only when something triggers that centre in my brain.
Otherwise I look at the computer with a blank look, it looks at me till it goes to sleep. Then I go to sleep. No words written… Sighhhh
But some books, some people trigger the emotions, then I can write 🙈🙈😊😊😉😉
That is awesome Shalini…
Yes a writer needs a muse, triggers, or emotional overflow to write…
Happens wid me a lot…
I write when I m overflowing inside me with emotions that cannot be stored within…and somedays the flood drowns me without me writing a single letter 😂😀🙂
Haha well, most days I don’t feel much so nothing to write.
My posts from my life are therefore very few.
The book reviews are aplenty
That is what makes the life stories special coz they are few yet really genuine and touching
As for book reviews u r doing a fabulous job
Thank you Roy / Sir hahaha had to tease you 😉😉
Hehe…welcome Mam/ Shalini…🤗
Hahaha…
Superb
Thank you Neha, the poet has really written the poems well. So I could write my review. Thank you so much for reading and commenting here. Much appreciated. 💗💗
You are always welcome 😃
Nice post
Thank you Vijay
It definitely sounds nice, though it’s not exactly me genre. Maybe I should give this a try?
Great review as always, Shalini! : D
It is a very easy read about how to be a good human. Some words have to be reflected upon to see how it works in our life.
BTW aren’t you having exams sometime soon??
They’re starting march 1, actually. A little relaxation time left : D
Haha there you go girl, now I know you are well prepared to consider 14 days as relaxation time.
P. S I hate exams, gave my last in 1999,still have nightmares about it
Lol, doesn’t everyone hate exams? : D
Ah, at least I’m confident enough in most parts to stay a bit active in the blogging world. But rest assured, 9th will take that away too ; )
Very true… I have nightmares that I am late for my exams at least once a month hahaha and I get screaming hehehe…
I just wonder, how, when, where do you find the time to read and review so many books every week??
It just makes me wonder how much time I must be literally wasting 😦
Hahaha, Moushmi, I am down with the flu, I can’t do much except read. I don’t watch TV. So I read when I am not battling a headache
Hope you get well soon 🙂
I hope so too, it’s been 5 days. I am better just weak
It is really frustrating to get the flu, when you feel like doing absolutely nothing!
I like it… After the cough cold fever part, because I just laze around with the excuse of weakness
Hahahah,
I never like it, It just makes me want to sit and do nothing, not even read, so..
Sometimes being stationary is fun, at least for me
The rest that we need every time we get exhausted 🙂
true
And darling, you do other artistic things like writing, studying giving exams, managing the bridezillas, etc. And many more which I do not know of yet
Hahahaha,
speaking of which yet another bridezilla awaits on the 18th of Feb!!
There you go, girl. I love the way you are dashing from event to the other. Keep an eye out for Raj
Oh, really? raj again!
I don’t think he eve exists!!
Sab ek jaise hi hai yaar..
Wo toh hai, shayad raj bhi waisa hi nikla hoga only simran knows. We saw him only till they got on train. Apne ghar jaa kar he would have changed
Hahhaha, yep, may be!
Ab Raj k saath saaath Simran ko bhi dhundna pada to fir to ho gaya 😀
Isliye meri jaan Usko movie kehte hain. All lies.
But maybe there are few good men somewhere
But sirf movies ne hopes nai badhaye na hamare!
Even books to, they are no less hopeful of the kind of love.
Yes, but they are ultimately a figment of human’s imagination and mind… So getting a perfect Raj, not possible
And yet we are, waiting and ho;ping for that Raj!!
Why>>
Because living in hope is more beautiful than living in reality. And without hope life becomes difficult. So hope makes our dreams.
Also keep hoping but shart na rakhna ki wo poori ho jaye.
Hmm, ye to hai,
Shart nai rakh sakte, but hope does make good dreams 🙂
Yp very true so see if you find Raj in the bridezilla event. Search for 2 Raj, since I am down with the flu
Hahahaha,
I think I am going to search for only one, for you.
As I really need to get out of that zone for now!
Hahaha I understand….
How are you feeling? ☺️
Sounds like a beautifully written book!
Oh yes… Very beautiful. Some poems are just Sublime. Thank you
Better, no fever.
I wonder why I found your comment in the spam folder
Nice review
Thank you so much
Welcome