My New Poetry Collection
It finally happened! After almost eight months of waiting, my new book, Poems of Faith, Hope and Love has been published by Parousia Magazine. It is the largest publisher of Christian poetry in Africa and it almost always publishes chapbooks of about fifty poems. However, the publisher liked all of my one hundred poems so much; they published all one hundred poems that I submitted as a poetry collection. Based on poems I’ve written last year (2024), they represent the best devotional poems I’ve written until now. I’ve published individual poems in magazines and self-published several volumes of poetry, but, Poems of Faith, Hope and Love is the first entire book of poems I’ve published with a professional publisher.
Even though I don’t receive royalties from my book, the eBook is free on Kindle and the Parousia Magazine website, so there is the chance that many readers may discover it. As I’ve mentioned earlier, it means much more to me to have more readers and no pay versus royalties with few readers engaging in my work. Besides, long ago, I made a promise to God that if He helped me become a writer, then I would take no money for it.
In terms of structure, my poetry collection is divided into one hundred individual poems each twenty four lines long further divided into three stanzas. The lines are alternatively rhymed and usually have a powerful two line summary at the end.
Probably the best way to describe the content of my poems is to quote the back cover:
“This book of devotional poems, expresses my thoughts and feeling about God based on my everyday experiences. Each poem reflects, in many ways, the power of the Holy Spirit that takes the reader through various challenges that provide comfort and assurance. These compositions describe an inner struggle that is eventually resolved through trust in the Christian triad of faith, hope and love. I also believe the challenges in these poems represent problems most readers experience during specific times in their lives.”
These poems were often inspired by a specific phrase or concept that intuitively led to an entire composition. Because of this, these poems that begin with doubt and insecurity are resolved by God’s prompting to persevere in the Christin faith.
To make certain my poems would be good enough to be professionally published, over the years I’ve developed my ability to compose poems very similar to the structure I used for this current book of verses. This focus on the specific structure allowed me to constantly improve my style and content.
On the book jacket “About the Author” section I describe more about my new book, Poems of Faith, Hope and Love:
“As a Christian and spiritual seeker, … Zurn explores the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This devotion has helped him to cope with sorrow, disappointment and uncertainty. His poetry reflects his challenge to lead a Christian life while living in a world that is sometimes at odds with his Christian values.”
Perhaps the best way to finish this newsletter is to quote a poem from the book called, “At Last I Will Be Free.”:
Stanza One
Sometimes, I long to live in heaven / set free from all life’s misery.
Then God and I would be together, / and I will solve the mystery.
I’d finally know I’m good enough / and gone will be this tedious dream.
I’d wake up to eternal love, / and angels would, at last, be real
Stanza Two
I’d meet my friends and relatives / and see the astral forests too.
No longer knowing fear and death,/ my spirit would at last break through.
True joy would give me peaceful rest / and gone would be all fear and doubt.
I’d know my soul was truly blessed / never lost and then left out.
Stanza Three
But for now I’ll bear this burden / and live my life with hope and faith.
I’ll trust in God because I’m sure / that I will have the strength to wait.
So I will try to live each moment / and see God in the simple things.
I’ll trust in love beyond emotion / and then, at last, I will be free.
I’d like to end this newsletter by expressing my gratitude for the readers who have offered their encouragement and support over the years. It has meant a lot to me. Have a great day and I’ll see you next week!
Quotes: “Real devotion is an unbroken receptivity to the truth.” Sosyad Rinpoche
“Devotion is a place where you do not exist; life just flows through you as a certain sweetness and beauty.” Jaggi Vadudev
“The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.” Richard J. Foster
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Photo credit: susan-q-yin-2JIvboGLeho-unsplash, Parousia Magazine.
