A Year of Words

The year is 2007 and my mind is full of poems and a need to write. These poems I wrote are a diary of emotions reflecting the day that they were written. They are an eclectic journey through my year. They reflect an emotional journey whose intent is to diarise in rhyme the moment they were written.

Oft the poems are whimsical, sometimes philosophical, and other times musing. The poems were written without edits, the poems in this compendium are of the moment, no revisions were ever considered. These poems are my conversation with you, they are your insight into a very mercurial mind, full of emotion.

I have written poems all my life, and now at 74 some of them have found a page and an audience, please enjoy.

A Word of Hope

Each of us are on the journey of mortality. A journey in which no one is spared a handful of heartaches, a time of trial, or a darkest hour. And though our time on Earth is a time for joy, love, and life– there will come a time, or many, of shadow when a simple word of hope is all that seems to part the darkness surrounding us. A time when it is only hope that is light enough to keep us moving on our path. Where this hope can be found is a question whose answer is too individually unique to capture in a simple phrase.

A Word of Hope is a collection of poetry that explores some sources of hope and the faith required to find them. Other poems in the collection paint a picture of the hardships of mortality as these are the times hope is most needed. These poems serve as reminders that no matter what may darken our lives, there is some light that will always shine. There is always hope to be had.

A Tale of Crystal Visions

There’ll be song and laughter, music and dance

This night is so young, dreamer of sweet dreams

There be playful romantic song per chance

Before the morning where the dawning gleams

Our souls are like diamonds

with facets cut by the masters

We are capable

We expect the unexpected

And we think the unthinkable

And each time we stay connected

Life becomes more incredible

We do undoable doing

And find the unfindable

And time in mindful thinking

We reach, grasp the unreachable

We stand amazed at new meaning

At new found realizations

At new found paths we are treading

And always there are new questions

We then learn the unlearnable

Question the unquestionable

We achieve the unachievable

And find that, we are capable

A Spoondrift of Pearls

This lyrical collection of poems is inspired by the tiny island of Eilean Bàn, lying off the Isle of Skye, the final home to Gavin Maxwell, author of Ring of Bright Water.
Lesley Kahney worked as a volunteer warden on the island for many months, observing the otters, seals and dolphins; absorbing the rhythms of the sea, clouds and nature.
Vivid and rich in description, the poems capture the detail in nature. We catch glimpses of a vanishing Scotland with bothies, otters and selkies. Using metaphor, symbolism, and mythology, her poems connect with the history and mystery of the island. Whether depicting seagulls, primroses or seals; the themes of life, death, hope, and impermanence linger at the heart of the poems.
With language that is both tender and raw, an emotional journey is taken through the ordinary and gilded with the microscope of the extraordinary. Here is an invitation to immerse yourself in the scent of sea mists and bluebells, and to give your attention in every moment to being part of nature. Whether a fan of Gavin Maxwell or not, these poems will speak to anyone who likes nature or to be by the sea.

A Seasons' Treasury

Follow the changing seasons through all their wealth of growth and flowering, through autumn’s fall, the withering of winter and all the challenging varieties of weather that can accompany these changes. These poems, written over a period of 30 years, are essentially poems of celebration: of immersion in the seasonal round that ‘resonate with quiet joy’ as one reviewer observed. ‘To walk through its pages is to be touched and refreshed by the dew...’ To encounter ‘widths of sky, or mercurial, brimming weather.’ The author’s companionable sensibility brings us a welcome breathing space at a helpful distance from the overly ironic or overly cerebral poetry to be found, too often, in literary journals. A blithe purity ushers through it. And, as in its Midsummer Garden it extends a joyful invitation to re-enter that purity ‘like...a winged seed.’

A Revelation of Love

A Revelation of Love will help readers grow in their understanding of the amazing love God has for them. We all need a deeper revelation of how much we are loved by God because that has the power to move us and help us develop a more meaningful relationship with him. 

The personal beliefs expressed in its poems are based on profound and universal Biblical principles. Many of its poems are testimonies about how applying Christian values to one’s life can bring about emotional healing and freedom. Sharing our testimonies is important because it helps us to be overcomers (Rev 12:11). Its messages are clear and easy to read and will appeal to many people at varying stages of their spiritual journey. They encourage each person to follow the same carefully tracked footprints of Christ’s, so they too can climb onwards and upwards towards true success and lasting happiness.  

A Pariah's Heartbreak

A Pariah’s Heartbreak is a series of beautifully written poems which gives a compelling look inside the chaotic mind of a trauma survivor. The poems give an alluring and devastatingly painful account of issues such as solitude, heartbreak, gender based violence, society’s disapproval, anxiety, trauma, mental health issues, among many others.

A Heart of Glass

This eclectic collection of poems invites you to sit at a table and feast along at a banquet of thoughts, desires and dreams. Each theme spotlights some untested message about identity, mental health, love and being, giving a lucid perspective to otherwise complex matters. The vulnerable, delicate and emotional poems coupled with the author’s transparency about her own experiences have informed the title A Heart of Glass. She employs simple rhythms and imagery to explore regular but intriguing characters set in plots that allow the richness of their stories to become real. This body of writing comes unrestricted and ready to spark – regardless if it is a conversation, thought or a long-lost memory...

A Few Years In The Life of a Protest Poet

'I began writing poetry/ditties shortly after moving down to Cornwall back in 1977. It's amazing how inspirational the lapping of the tidal waves can be. Whilst working on a building, I began writing poems about all the different workers on the toilet walls. These were humorous and inoffensive, and although I'd written about the gaffer, he must have liked them, as he never sacked me. 

'The pandemic caused me to put my thoughts down on paper, ranging from what we've done to this planet and its wildlife, to how the Government has dealt with each situation, good or bad.' 

Lori Crasnich

A Different View

Poetry about feeling alone and different in a big normal world. Poetry about struggling with depression and mental health. Poems that tell stories that everyone can feel familiar with. A Different View is a poetry collection that is more relevant than ever in these days of people struggling with mental health issues and in a society that gets more and more open.

A Bouquet of Fish Bones

The unhappy narcissist is threatened by the loss of beauty. The sophisticate takes reward from the geometry of desires. The eccentric form defective passions. The restless spirit seeks out a series of liberating falls. The daydreamer is charmed by planetary coincidences. The womanizer falls victim to fatal attractions. The loner finds amusement feeding his inflated imagination with scenes of mystery. The awareness of mortality leads them to the expression of passions, and mistakes.

The carousels of all these people’s little panics perpetually rotate, each circle closes for another to open and the tyranny of existence continues to be summed up in the agonizing question: the eternality of the temporary or the temporary eternity?

Against a background of the universe’s vast mirror, to what extent can the instantaneous, the insignificant and the random leave any trace on time’s relentless flow, giving another dimension to eternality?

A Book of Songs and Poetry

Life and death, battles and war. Fathers and sons, mothers we adore. Babies and children, people we love. Those that we have lost who watch from above. Hopes and fears, wisdom and truth, innocence, and carefree youth. Autumn, winter, summer, spring. Nymphs, doe deers, nature and mysterious things. People lost and people found. Those that reach out to help others unsound. Lost paths and opportunities. Restless souls and obsessive entities - All in a book of songs and poetry.