Poetry Book Review: Finding Mother God by Carol Lynn Pearson

Publisher Gibbs Smith

Publication Date

9/1/2020

Pages

147

Price

$16.99

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"This gem of a book took me by surprise"

It was a beautiful day. I had just grabbed my chai tea from Starbucks and felt it was perfect to spend some time in Barnes and Noble to seek out any new poetry books my hands could get a grasp on. I spent quite some time in the poetry section, as I always do, going through each book that caught my eye until this yellow spine with crisp black words Finding Mother God grabbed my attention. I was immedietly intrigued by the title not only because such a title could be controversal to some folks, but because it fell in line with my own beliefs of who God is to me. To clarify, I don't consider myself a religious person. I'm more in touch with myself spiritually and believe in a higher power I refer to as God, The Universe, or sometimes Mother Nature, but I can save my beliefs for another day.

My process for picking out a book is how I'm pretty sure a lot of people pick out their books. I start off by examining the cover, the feel of it, the artwork, and the typography. I know you should never judge a book by its cover but I can't help it, that's my artist side. I then begin to read the back, the dedication if there is one, the introduction, and then the first few poems or chapters. Right away I can tell if a poetry book is going to be my cup of tea by just one or two pieces. Since this is my first book review, I will make something clear. I am not a huge fan of this modern day poetry that we call instapoetry. Although I can appreciate the impact it has had on the younger generations and the authors who create it, however for me personally, it is not my cup of tea. When I read poetry, I want to digest the words as if it were soul food and not a quick snack. I enjoy the complexities, the rhyming scheme, the message, the metaphors, analogies, the freedom, I want to digest it all. I will write another blog post going further into depths on this topic but right now I want to focus on this wonderful book.

After making my assessments through my book picking process, I gladly brought this book home and immediatley began reading and fell in love with each poem with each page turn. In this review, I'm going to break down in sections my thoughts on Finding Mother God: Poems To Heal The World

The Cover

Yea, yea I know never judge a book by it's cover, but the cover is too beautiful not to talk about! This edition is a hardcopy with a beautiful line drawing of Mother God herself. Even though the cover is simplistic with the yellow background, the artwork really spoke to me (after all I do paint from time to time) and the subtle placement of the texts stood out. To me the artwork depicts a woman carrying what I perceived as the globe in her hands like she is trying to save it and care for it. It's like a mothers touch and I felt the cover was very fitting for the content that was inside.

The Poems

The poems are thought provoking and beautifully structured and will definitely make you think deeper on how we view God. We always refer to Father God but what about Mother God? Doesn't every human being in this world have a mother? This collection of poetry truly speaks on how much her presence should be acknowledged. Here is a small excerpt from the poem "Common Sense":

"....nor will I buy

a story that says the Creator

of all creatures including me

was one or two or three Male Beings

never mind how potent

their omnipotence might be."

pg. 18

All of the poems are a good length, perfect how I like for my mind to digest and for the avid reader. You can tell the author took her time with this collection the way each poem is crafted and how each one is thought provoking and may even ruffle some feathers.

Final Thoughts

I highly recommend this gem of a book and if you're a woman, I think this book should be one of your must reads as I think this book can also be empowering to women. To dive into a topic that can be so sensitive and controversal, the author did what needed to be done and did so beautifully. Her presence should be acknowledged. You can purchase this book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble