Ascent

by Christopher Manieri

A stirring collection of poetry, this work provides profound meditations on the nature of existence. Ranging from the abyss of emptiness to new summits of joy, the poems reveal a restless but resilient mind yearning for greater comprehension of the cosmos, for a deeper connection to reality itself. Amidst poignant reflections, certain crucial moments become crystallizations of clarity, as sorrow is transformed into serenity, offering glimpses beyond the veil. Cherishing the wonder of the natural world, these contemplations depict a spiritual voyage of passion, with great longing for transcendence.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

Published May 25, 2024

About the author

Christopher Manieri is a Canadian poet and novelist with a great love for literature. Residing near Toronto, Ontario, he is a graduate of York University. He also has a deep interest in philosophy and history.

(Former pen name: Christopher Manners)

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This latest collection of poems by Christopher Manieri takes the reader on a journey of spiritual reflections and an overall heightened sense of wonder. Manieri continues his keen focus on a higher awareness and appreciation of the cosmos as well as our deep connection to oneness. These are poems to truly be meditated upon and savored.

My favorite selections are “The Birds still Sing”, “In the Library in my Youth”, “The Conqueror and the Hermit”, “The Ancient Traveller”, and “Alexander and the Sage.”

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a profound and spiritual book. I would really recommend it to thinkers and spiritual individuals who are inclined to existential searching and questions of deeper meaning. There is a significant level of suffering that is conveyed and yet there is also a sense of resilience and hope. It's a very deep and rewarding read. Emotionally evocative and inspiring.

"Those that are destined for great pain are also destined for deeper sight."

[Dri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ascent is a poetic revelation, a reminder that within each of us lies the entire universe, waiting to be discovered. Each poem intertwines themes of longing, nature, and the primordial Oneness we have long forgotten. Water, in its many forms, flows gracefully through the collection. It is the river of time, the lake of our tranquil moments, the ocean of infinite possibilities. The poems beautifully capture the paradox of existence, the dance between our individuality and our unity with the Oneness. We are reminded that every element of nature reflects the boundless cosmos within us.

[Joe Giampaolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

TRULY REMARKABLE!

Ascent by Christopher Manieri is truly a remarkable collection of poems. It is one of the most eloquent and profound explorations of our existence I have ever had the pleasure of reading. This sublime collection of approximately sixty poems is crafted carefully with each word perfectly placed in the context of the poem and yet, at the same time, it conveys to the readers a natural, genuine truth with flowing, effortless writing.

Mr. Manieri tackles with his poems the age-old questions of life and death, essence and reality and he does so elegantly with allusions and references to many important philosophers and historical figures. The remarkable aspect is the fact that this young poet/philosopher offers answers to these questions with a wisdom that is not at all common in most people. Mr. Manieri’s ontological understanding of the Universe is based to a great extent on the wisdom of Oriental philosophies and on the writings of amazing spiritual masters such as Eckart Tolle, whose writings have had an enormous impact on my existence and my poetry.

All of the poems in this collection are exquisite, but the following ones are particularly beautiful and meaningful: Exiled, The Emissary, Bleakness, At The Lake, Nothing and Everything, Fluctuations, In the Forest, The Rain, Consciousness, Grief and Bliss, The Cosmos and the Child, The Lake, Sorrow as a Reminder, The Ocean, The Conqueror and the Hermit, Beyond, Anguish and Silence, The Ancient Traveller, Emptiness and Fullness, Sorrow and Serenity, and the epic In the Library in my Youth.

A few excerpts will provide the reader with a glance at the wisdom and beauty found in these poems:

(At the Lake)
Attempting to regain my boyhood,
I long to recall those lost fragments
to realize that old sense of buoyancy
once again, that jubilation of mere play
which hinted at the cosmic play.

Here in this passage from the poem Fluctuations, we find the answer on how to deal with life’s adversities:

My reaction to the suffering is crucial:
Do I become poisoned by resentment
or more radiant in my ultimate acceptance?

(In the Forest)
The fleeting individual seems meaningless.
And yet I sense that there is something vast within,
this deep core which can sometimes glimpse,
in the transient, which actually transcends
the transient, which actually surpasses time itself.

In the wonderful poem, The Rain, we can find a metaphor for Marcus Aurelius' concept of Amor Fati:

Once a torturing enemy, now it’s my most
loyal companion. Intrinsic to my reality,
I can’t detach. And now, I can’t even imagine
Living without the rain.

The poem Grief and Bliss offers other solutions on how to achieve true freedom and joy:

And yet the realization of true freedom
actually requires the complete detachment
from that sense of self-hood, the transcending
of the ceaseless mind itself, as the solidity
of the separate individual is only illusory.

(Anguish and Silence)
Cold analysis, that dissecting categorization,
That straining separation will only yield
More questions, more vain linguistics games.
But reality cannot be captured by language.
Remember: language limits, but silence unites.

Let me conclude by saying that this book is a must-read for anyone interested in beautiful poetry and spirituality.

[Marianne Mersereau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher Manieri’s Ascent is a moving collection of contemplative poetry. In luminous lines, the poet asks us to meditate on true joy that “can only be found in the Infinite.” Manieri doesn’t ignore the complexities and sorrows of life in these stirring poems, but instead explores the contrasts between grief and bliss and how in both there is a “certain cosmic beauty.” In “The Lake” we are assured that we are “greater than the mere body, more than the mind.” This theme of spiritual transcendence is woven throughout, as in “Harmony,” he writes, ‘we are all instruments of the Spirit/each vital to that greater harmony.” Ascent showcases the author as an instrument of Spirit in these uplifting and encouraging poems. Encountering this work leaves the reader “rejuvenated by the rush of love for all” as the poet writes of a vibrant blue jay in the woodland, relentless rain, swans, treasured fields, quiet grass, the ocean, river, lake and forest. Manieri’s poems invite us to continue our journey toward oneness “undaunted by the struggle” and to “heal our wings for the ascent.”

[Whitrose Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Manieri’s grappling with the theodicy of existence has something of the Ancient speaking through him. In his poetic volume he struggles with the fleetingness of this earthly life and the transience of terrestrial goods, which one could surmise, brings the author to the spiritual cusp of a place not unlike Siddartha Gautama right before he abandoned his palace or St Benedict of Nursia at the moment he abandoned his profane studies in order to seek union with God as a hermit in the cave at Subiaco. Overall this volume should be read in one sitting as the four parts maintain the themes of renunciation of the world, the agonies of this mortal life which is passing away, and the desire for union with the Monad. This is poetry in the didactic form that seeks to make sense, as the poets of old have always aspired, of the seeming contradiction of the vicissitudes of being spiritual and material beings, thus posing to the reader the question of what our true values are and perhaps even hinting at what they should be.

[L.B. Sedlacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new poetry collection by Manieri invites readers into a realm of poetic imagery and eloquent verse. The book is divided into sections with each poem almost becoming a stepping stone from one page to the next.

Manieri’s language is accessible in showing vulnerability and strength and guiding readers with his poignant reflections. He expertly crafts a thoughtful landscape of explorative introspection and emotional discovery.

His poems delve into the soul, the core. He writes with a refreshing sincerity. His candor is reassuring almost offering up a companionship between poet and reader.

Manieri once again captures life in a poem. And that is rare for any poet.

[Philip Dodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having enjoyed reading The Voyage, Contemplations, and Existence by Christopher Manieri, I was happy to read his new book of poems, Ascent. I liked its hopeful title, to begin with, for it promised the reader a climb upward rather than a descent into the dark. Christopher Manieri has found his own poetic style and has kept to it, which is good. It is a style rooted in the poetry of the past, such as the more philosophical passages of The Prelude by William Wordsworth, than that of the present. Refreshingly, it reads like poetry to me. Much modern poetry does not, reading more like fragmented prose, guided by the brain and the body, the heart and the spirit often neglected, even forgotten. It is a pleasure to read poems such as those by Christopher Manieri that still obey the laws of grammar and punctuation. Many modern poets think it is clever to write without using capital letters, commas and full stops. I do not. It just makes their works frustrating to read.
The poems in Ascent, like in Christopher Manieri's previous books, are concerned with high matters, written in the high style. They are about the search of the spirit for the truth while housed in the body on Earth, and the suffering, pain and glimpses of joy that brings. Reading his poems, it is clear the poet is well read in the philosophy and spiritual writings of the East. The answer lies within, seems to be his conclusion, for the journey outward only brings confusion, disappointment and pain. His verses often remind me of Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot. I liked his skilful use of alliteration in some of his poems. Perhaps the poem that sums up the theme of the entire collection is one called The Mariner, which ends, like so:
"Yet one morning he awoke and finally realized
that the harbour was never really hidden,
that in reality he had never really left,
that he was always there, always truly home."
There is comfort in those lines. Ascent is a fine work of spiritual verse, well worth reading.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overcoming – and hope. Radiant poetry!

Canadian poet Christopher Manieri offers a Gilead with his eloquent poems that provide sensitive moments of courage to transcend the flaws of ‘now’ in seeking hope and reassurance for the future. His poetic utterances are reminiscent of the great poets of the past, so effective is his style of phrasing concepts through words that embrace nature as a path to hope and resilience. A sample of this impressive fourth collection of his poems follows:

Cosmic Music

Initially I only perceived a weary clashing
of egos, this distressing dissonance of chaos,
each voracious mind attempting to vault
over the other, immersed in endless vanity.
Yet after a wondrous silence, I soon realized
that each individual was actually an instrument
of a vast orchestra, the chaos transcended
by this underlying harmony, the cosmic music
of the one pure Consciousness itself.

Manieri’s poetry is satisfying on many levels – his artistry as a poet, his musings with nature as a reference point, and his themes of unity with the cosmos. Very highly recommended.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ascent is a haunting collection of poems that have underlying themes of connection; the way we seek to find a deeper meaning in all that swirls around us. Christopher Manieri is able to find that single thread of existence that so often gets lost in frayed perception - frayed by our illusions of control and perminance. Deep and layered, yet very relatable.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection helped me ascend my own summit. I took my time, each poem a current, guiding my growth with sagacious intelligence and insight. While my journey felt personal, that is the magic of Manieri's prose. It feels written for a singular soul, for a spiritual purpose, because he's offering us a sense of the divine.

[Dustin Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful philosophical verses in contemporary language-- highly thoughtful and engaging!

[Michael Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting - full review to come in WoM.