Chelan Harkin’s latest compilation of mystic poetry extracts pearls from the depths of despair, with the fearless fortitude of a world-class free diver. As a seasoned sherpa, she leads readers by the hand and heart through the valley of ego death with occasional paroxysms of ‘hooting and hollering.’ With equal parts tenderness and ferocity, Wild Grace adds a generous dollop of the Divine Feminine and a singular poeticism to a spiritual travel guide that should find its soon-to-be coffee-stained and dogeared way into the backpacks of many a soul sojourner.” —Nipun Mehta, Founder of ServiceSpace
“Wild Grace is Chelan Harkin’s most moving collection of poetry yet. Each poem is a satisfying dish, chock-full of fresh insights and earned epiphanies—and spiced with a dash of humor. In our overscheduled, too-busy lives, Harkin reminds us that we are, at heart, spiritual beings. These poems are deeply nourishing. It’s impossible to read them without feeling something long dormant stir inside you.” —Eric Weiner, New York Times Best-selling author of The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius
“There’s a Vedic saying: ‘Thy gifts, my Lord, I surrender to Thee.’ Chelan has indeed received a Divine gift. I don’t think ordinary human intelligence could express such depth in words. She is an instrument of the Divine. We all are, to varying degrees and in various ways. But rarely are our expressions so sublime and uplifting as hers. And she’s so young! I think that centuries from now, people will still be inspired by her poetry.” —Rick Archer, host of podcast Buddha at the Gas Pump: Conversations with “Ordinary” Spiritually Awakening People
“Harkin offers poems that include references to Persian mystics and draw from feminism and Buddhist teachings... Well-crafted and straightforward.” —Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Chelan Harkin’s Susceptible to Light:
“Hafiz says, ‘God and I have become like two giant fat people living in a tiny boat. We keep bumping into each other and laughing.’ May this collection help you feel the possibility of that kind of laughter.” —Daniel Ladinsky, The Gift
“These pages bear witness to a beautifully reckless and vulnerable love. Susceptible to Light shares the ineffable, all-consuming love of a Rumi or Hafiz, but situated in the here-and-now, amidst our dirty dishes and carpools. Do yourself a favor and savor these poems.” —Eric Weiner, bestselling author of books such as The Geography of Bliss and, most recently, The Socrates Express
“This is a beautiful compilation of WOWS! Let yourself be carried away on this ecstatic current of wonder-drenched poems and you will surely find your heart singing and dancing with each and every beautiful offering.” —Tina M. Benson, M.A., international bestselling author of A Woman Unto Herself
“All your tears will find sisters in her poems, and all your laughter will find a home in her belly. Her poems are just plain fun to read, yet they take us to the deepest darkest loam, where lightning goes.” —Alfred K. LaMotte, author of Wounded Bud
2023-10-03
Harkin offers poems that include references to Persian mystics and draw from feminism and Buddhist teachings.
This quotable book features works that often directly address the reader. For example, the speaker in “How to Write Inspired Poetry” offers advice to other poets: “Pass agony the mic / and watch tenderness / uncurl from her / as she’s allowed to tell / her full story.” In some poems, the voice transitions from a second-person perspective to a collective first-person, perhaps to avoid alienating readers with preachiness, as in “Awakening is Messy”: “Awakening is bit by bit / coming out of denial / around all the reasons you’ve needed / to wield / that terrible tool of othering— / because so much is unbearable / inside of our own self.” The strongest moments occur when a metaphor or image emerges effortlessly, as in “Permission to Say Anything”: “Tell us of your affairs / with loneliness / and how you can’t seem to stop returning / to her cold bed.” The poet evokes Heraclitus and Buddhism in “We Drink the Same Water”: “We are made of ancient water / and our makeup is continually recycled / through the heavens.” Harkin seems to emulate Persian poet Hafez’s signature self-referential couplets, which are often mistaken for self-aggrandizement, in “Shadow Sherpa”: “With my pen I gut the heavens / and spill luminous entrails / all over the earth— / let the soul hungry hounds lap it up.” By contrast, in “Rumi’s Heart,” the speaker purports to know Hafez intimately and boldly transgresses his literary and cultural status: “Hafez, most likely, / was a gardener / of sorrow— / …. / I’m sorry if this disappoints you, / that even the greats / aren’t elitist untouchables / that have defied suffering.” This denouncement of elitism is in step with the accessibility of all the works in this collection, even to readers who may usually be averse to poetry, and simultaneously contradicts the branding of any poet as mystic.
Well-crafted and straightforward poetry.
