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The Colors I Hear: Poems & Prose to Inspire Creativity
THE COLORS I HEAR is Carolyn Riker’s fourth full-length book of poetry & prose. This book is soaked in nature, creativity, imagination, and dreams—the root of a Highly Sensitive Person .
There are four When a Bird Sings is how nature influences Carolyn’s poetry. The second section, Welcome All Sides of You , honors aging. The third section, Highly Sensitive People , describes self-acceptance and appreciation as an HSP. And last, The Colors of Creativity is an assortment of poetry and prose to inspire your imagination.
There are four When a Bird Sings is how nature influences Carolyn’s poetry. The second section, Welcome All Sides of You , honors aging. The third section, Highly Sensitive People , describes self-acceptance and appreciation as an HSP. And last, The Colors of Creativity is an assortment of poetry and prose to inspire your imagination.
100 pages, Paperback
Published May 28, 2023
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20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 12, 2023
Where shall I start to review the book of one of my favorite authors in this whole world?
I don't know how our path was united in the year 2020 but I know it was united for a purpose. The purpose of finding each other and embracing the real meaning of friendship.
I have never met Carolyn but since the day I started reading her words on Medium and then on the social media platform, I was damn sure that this woman is going to be my friend for the rest of my life.
This review comes straight from my heart for a woman who has inspired me enough to live an authentic life without fear and guilt. She has taught me the meaning of accepting oneself with all dignity and respect. She has raised me back to life when I saw just darkness and she made my way toward the light.
It's because of her today that I know I am a highly sensitive soul. She has mentioned HSP in her book with all heart and spirit. She has instilled faith in me once again that acceptance is needed always from us first then the rest of the world. Her poetry has made me a content reader and a peaceful person. I hope it does the same magic for you too.
Sharing my favorite excerpts from her book:
* If you only share the sides that shine
How will you know
That you also cry and tremble
The color of a mountain?
* Say something beautiful
To capture the space
Under the grace of being seen,
And I'll cup the tears
That pour from you and me.
* Trees, tears and stars
Are here to witness
When solitude leans
With out unspoken dreams.
Always felt as they tie us
To where you and I meet.
* Today I only ask of you
To reach, listen and hold
What is inside of you
Because you are a prayer.
* Your path is a quiet one,
But speak your truths.
You see what is real.
Even when it crisscrosses
Between unseen reveals.
I would recommend this book to all those souls who have been fighting to know who they truly are and if you are an HSP then please don't miss out reading this book. It will bring you back closer to your heart and spirit. Thank you.
I don't know how our path was united in the year 2020 but I know it was united for a purpose. The purpose of finding each other and embracing the real meaning of friendship.
I have never met Carolyn but since the day I started reading her words on Medium and then on the social media platform, I was damn sure that this woman is going to be my friend for the rest of my life.
This review comes straight from my heart for a woman who has inspired me enough to live an authentic life without fear and guilt. She has taught me the meaning of accepting oneself with all dignity and respect. She has raised me back to life when I saw just darkness and she made my way toward the light.
It's because of her today that I know I am a highly sensitive soul. She has mentioned HSP in her book with all heart and spirit. She has instilled faith in me once again that acceptance is needed always from us first then the rest of the world. Her poetry has made me a content reader and a peaceful person. I hope it does the same magic for you too.
Sharing my favorite excerpts from her book:
* If you only share the sides that shine
How will you know
That you also cry and tremble
The color of a mountain?
* Say something beautiful
To capture the space
Under the grace of being seen,
And I'll cup the tears
That pour from you and me.
* Trees, tears and stars
Are here to witness
When solitude leans
With out unspoken dreams.
Always felt as they tie us
To where you and I meet.
* Today I only ask of you
To reach, listen and hold
What is inside of you
Because you are a prayer.
* Your path is a quiet one,
But speak your truths.
You see what is real.
Even when it crisscrosses
Between unseen reveals.
I would recommend this book to all those souls who have been fighting to know who they truly are and if you are an HSP then please don't miss out reading this book. It will bring you back closer to your heart and spirit. Thank you.
September 10, 2023
Grays before blues before reds: Powerful yet delicate
The Colors I Hear—Poems & Prose to Inspire Creativity by Carolyn Riker: This book made me feel seen, “heard” and connected to a rainbow of tender colors.
“The Colors I Hear" is a book whose soulful words soothingly inspire your imagination. Its use of rich natural imagery is this book's special characteristic. The color of things. Life. Its use of color conveys the delicate mood of the psyche as it relates and interacts with its surroundings. This is a book that grows with you: looking for color outwards, pausing to hear colors inwards, and if you need healing, it's sure to heal with every rereading. Grays before blues before reds.
Powerful yet delicate. Intricate yet simple and unadorned. A contemporary musical serenade that your soul will understand.
In her introduction, the poet shares that this is her fourth book of poetry and prose and that she's following something unseen but deeply felt.
The book is divided into four sections. The first speaks about nature and her connection to it. The second is about moods, aging, and honoring oneself. Also about encouragement, self-kindness, and acceptance. The third section is special to me as it's intended for Highly Sensitive People and of the fourth, says the Author, "The final section completes me." And you'll find all sorts of nonlinear thought bubbles. I hope you take a look.
I read the poems and introduction several times and at the end of my last reading I was left nodding along to the Author's words:
“I hear bells ringing on the tips of leaves,/blowing in a breeze,/being one with everything and nothing./”
Every sentence is beautiful and the Author invites you to be intentional with your words. Here are a few excerpts from the book:
“Say something beautiful” ~// “She belonged here. She became a garden.” ~
“Trees are sorcerers/tapping the sky/until sparks ignite/a most beautiful/starry, starry night./”
“Let’s take this moment/to linger longer/and empty your pockets/where loneliness hurts./Then layer the lessons/with love, linen, and lilies./”
“Today if all you do is walk/ or sleep, or draw/be a prayer./”
“Listen,/just listen./There’s more to be seen./You are a river,/reaching the depth/of your spiritual seas./”
“Like a poem/tucked behind a pink horizon/dazzled by a twirl of clouds./”
“Nature writes me. I enjoy studying how moss carpets a hillside and how it shows me to slow way, way, down.” ~
“Sensitivity fills the crevices/with much-needed empathy,/away from the loudness/and walks with you/by a quiet pond/woven of birdsong./”
To be under the tutelage of someone/this soul that knows/understands—urging me to be me—this made me ‘feel’ seen and "I spent time with my soul."
Through this book I learned that understanding that my sensitivity is my compass is what keeps me safe and secure.
I suspect that after reading through this collection you too will feel heard and you'll be primed to "listen to the silence and the hum” and find yourself saying, "I hear bells ringing on the tips of leaves, blowing in a breeze, being one with everything and nothing.”
“The sky called me again. It was an invitation of numinous sorts. The evening’s oranges blended with the pinkest pinks. While morning’s halos of grays serendipitously let me think.”
“Words find a writer… don’t edit the soul of your style.”
“She is the closest to her soul,/when she lets herself be/the center of/silence./”
I will never tire of this book and already feel an urge to reread it. I highly recommend it--5-star rating from a satisfied customer in Japan.
********
The Colors I Hear—Poems & Prose to Inspire Creativity by Carolyn Riker: This book made me feel seen, “heard” and connected to a rainbow of tender colors.
“The Colors I Hear" is a book whose soulful words soothingly inspire your imagination. Its use of rich natural imagery is this book's special characteristic. The color of things. Life. Its use of color conveys the delicate mood of the psyche as it relates and interacts with its surroundings. This is a book that grows with you: looking for color outwards, pausing to hear colors inwards, and if you need healing, it's sure to heal with every rereading. Grays before blues before reds.
Powerful yet delicate. Intricate yet simple and unadorned. A contemporary musical serenade that your soul will understand.
In her introduction, the poet shares that this is her fourth book of poetry and prose and that she's following something unseen but deeply felt.
The book is divided into four sections. The first speaks about nature and her connection to it. The second is about moods, aging, and honoring oneself. Also about encouragement, self-kindness, and acceptance. The third section is special to me as it's intended for Highly Sensitive People and of the fourth, says the Author, "The final section completes me." And you'll find all sorts of nonlinear thought bubbles. I hope you take a look.
I read the poems and introduction several times and at the end of my last reading I was left nodding along to the Author's words:
“I hear bells ringing on the tips of leaves,/blowing in a breeze,/being one with everything and nothing./”
Every sentence is beautiful and the Author invites you to be intentional with your words. Here are a few excerpts from the book:
“Say something beautiful” ~// “She belonged here. She became a garden.” ~
“Trees are sorcerers/tapping the sky/until sparks ignite/a most beautiful/starry, starry night./”
“Let’s take this moment/to linger longer/and empty your pockets/where loneliness hurts./Then layer the lessons/with love, linen, and lilies./”
“Today if all you do is walk/ or sleep, or draw/be a prayer./”
“Listen,/just listen./There’s more to be seen./You are a river,/reaching the depth/of your spiritual seas./”
“Like a poem/tucked behind a pink horizon/dazzled by a twirl of clouds./”
“Nature writes me. I enjoy studying how moss carpets a hillside and how it shows me to slow way, way, down.” ~
“Sensitivity fills the crevices/with much-needed empathy,/away from the loudness/and walks with you/by a quiet pond/woven of birdsong./”
To be under the tutelage of someone/this soul that knows/understands—urging me to be me—this made me ‘feel’ seen and "I spent time with my soul."
Through this book I learned that understanding that my sensitivity is my compass is what keeps me safe and secure.
I suspect that after reading through this collection you too will feel heard and you'll be primed to "listen to the silence and the hum” and find yourself saying, "I hear bells ringing on the tips of leaves, blowing in a breeze, being one with everything and nothing.”
“The sky called me again. It was an invitation of numinous sorts. The evening’s oranges blended with the pinkest pinks. While morning’s halos of grays serendipitously let me think.”
“Words find a writer… don’t edit the soul of your style.”
“She is the closest to her soul,/when she lets herself be/the center of/silence./”
I will never tire of this book and already feel an urge to reread it. I highly recommend it--5-star rating from a satisfied customer in Japan.
********
July 1, 2023
Carolyn Riker is a writer of great gifts. In this, her fourth full-length collection of poetry and prose, we see the human psyche painted across a vast canvas of natural phenomena. Riker explores our frailties and our dreams, our vulnerabilities and her own experience as a highly sensitive person (HSP) in the context of mountains, clouds, birds, moonlight and ocean. This collection is written with the sensitivity, compassion and wisdom we have come to expect of Riker, who herself is a qualified counsellor as well as a writer, mother to grown children, and devoted cat-lover. Treat yourself to this balm for the soul; a gentle, comforting voice in troubled times.
December 13, 2023
The Colours I Hear is a magic collection of poems that vibrate at a beautiful level of consciousness that shines a “knowing” of the moments of life-ing. Gold cultivated in all the twists and turns that brings.
I heard the spectrum of colours singing in each line gifted in this book.
Thanks Carolyn for sharing “you” - shining your vibrant light for all who are lucky to read your poetry and words of wisdom.
Creativity has been inspired to be sure!
I heard the spectrum of colours singing in each line gifted in this book.
Thanks Carolyn for sharing “you” - shining your vibrant light for all who are lucky to read your poetry and words of wisdom.
Creativity has been inspired to be sure!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews