Title: Poems for Mental and Spiritual Healing
Author: Rufus Johnson
Publisher: Writers’ Branding
ISBN: 978-1-953048-46-2
Pages: 168
Genre: Poetry
Reviewed by: Ella Vincent
Pacific Book Review
Poems for Mental and Spiritual Healing is a moving collection of poems about healing from heartbreak. Rufus Johnson has written a poetry book that will resonate with readers.
Poems for Mental and Spiritual Healing is a group of poems about a wide range of topics, including spirituality. In poems such as “Angels,” a narrator writes about how angels navigate and guide people in their lives; “Angels around us / Our divine messenger / Escorting our path.” Another spiritual poem, “Restless Soul” speaks about the wandering nature of souls; ”Our soul wanders over / Wandering, looking to find our way home / Not remembering what’s happening.”
Johnson also writes about healing from trauma in poems like “Anger and Time” shows a narrator struggling with trauma years after suffering; “Damages that have been don / In your younger years / You still live with. / Time will not heal that.” He also writes about the aching pain of a breakup in poems like “Heartbeat”; “We brought our hearts together / And you took / My heart and left me.”
In contrast to the hurt of “Anger and Time,” other poems stress on self-love and healing from pain. Poems like “Compassion” has a narrator speaking about having empathy and kindness toward other people; “Let not life turn / Your compassion into hate / Let not what others do. / Control your compassion. / Compassion comes from the heart. / Let not your mind be troubled.”
This book has emotional writing and timeless themes that will intrigue readers. The themes of resilience, forgiveness, and faith are seamlessly woven throughout the text. Johnson’s writing is heartfelt and the narrators in his poems are very relatable. The poems about anger, love, patriotism, and nature are nuanced and have meaningful messages. The imagery in the poems also add depth to the text as well. In poems like “I Can,” the narrators writes about how he can see the birds and feel the breeze in the trees as part of God’s work in nature.
Poems for Mental and Spiritual Healing would be best for readers who want to read poetry about resilience and healing in their lives. Readers who like classic poetry from legendary poets like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes will like this book as well. Readers who want to read about caring for their mental or spiritual health can find great insights from the text. Johnson’s poetry collection is one that readers should add to their book collection. Poems for Mental and Spiritual Health is a must-read book for readers looking to be uplifted.
