Essential Astonishments

There is a reality we all search for-one of true insight, where we feel the inner glow of connection to God, nature and life in all its splendor.

Essential Astonishments answers the soul's longing to speak with intimacy about the bliss and bewilderment of the human experience. This provocative collection of mystic poetry holds nothing back in elucidating the awe of being alive, facing the shadow, moving through pain, and arriving at a place of reverence for the simplest things.

Some of the poems read as though rendered straight from the voice of our Creator. Others are the poets' personal testimonies to the higher meaning of faith, love, truth, grief, dignity, death, presence, home, ambition, inwardness, beauty, belonging, freedom, prayer, poetry itself-and, ultimately, awakening.

Altogether, these poems deliver an insistent call to action at this epochal time in human history. Each verse encourages us to come to a place of honesty within ourselves and prioritize what is essential.

Turn off your devices, open to any page, and dissolve into the flame of revelation . . . allowing these words to purify your senses and illumine your heart.

Featuring original works by Gina Mazza, alongside poets Scott A. Terrell, Donna Knutson, Atul Ranchod, Meredith Lowry and Gershon Mitchel.

"Astonishment is the quintessence of life fully expressed. Yet it is something we cannot will ourselves to feel. This is where poetry-the epitome of word play-steps in, suspends us above the daily drift of ordinariness, and alights that spark of awe. It beseeches us to question everything. Every verse, versus, vice versa insists that we stop and revere the nuances of this human experience-to see beauty and grace in the pain and chaos. Poetry encourages us to be wilder in the midst of bewilderment. For this reason, it is an essential tool for experiencing the ephemeral nature of life and the One who created it all." -Gina Mazza