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Hearts and Spears

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A breathtaking poetry collection that holds political leaders to account, appreciates women and draws readers into nature's bosom with masterfully woven words.Divided into four Anger & grief, Women, Nature and Happiness, and spiced with wise quotes and beautiful sketches, Hearts and Spears, encompasses a wide range of human emotions. It awakens readers to the steady deterioration of our standard of living and the lackadaisical attitude of those in power towards topical issues like climate change and unending military interventions.In the second section, the life experiences and triumphs of women are fully appreciated.The third section, Nature, sings effervescent praise to the most revered African wildlife that now stand on the verge of extinction. The last section, Happiness, is filled with joyous poems that will gladden the hearts of readers and lighten their mood.

Kindle Edition

Published February 5, 2021

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7 people want to read

About the author

Somto Jefferson Uwazie

4 books1 follower

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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for B. Fox.
Author 2 books85 followers
May 20, 2021
This is a unique collection of poems that touch on subjects relevante to our times: Politics, climate change, racism, war, and even the infamous pandemic. But there are also more personal subjects, such as depression. The words are genuine, the style is fresh, and every poem is truly heartfelt. Each piece carries a famous quote at the end, some belong to the author himself, which were often my favorites.
This is a modern, relevant kind of poetry which I would recommend to everyone, even to those who think they don't like poetry.
Profile Image for Kerat Jhaj.
Author 4 books85 followers
May 3, 2021
I have read many poems. Poetry truly shows writing is a beautiful art form at it's best. And the writer is very skilled. Each and every line impressed me, the format and style of each poem was also picked to suit the motion of words. The Author has a strong voice. Knows how to paint a picture and evoke emotions from his view of Politics. Then moving onto poetry about women and nature he definitely knows how to tell a story. And the use of pictures and illustrations is also something that really suited the work in "Hearts and Spears". If you ever have free time this is a poem collection I would recommend reading.
Profile Image for M.E. Aster.
Author 4 books51 followers
July 28, 2022
Hearts and Spears was a very thought provoking collection of poems.

Dealing with themes relating to current events like politics, racism, sexism, and others, this was a heavy read. It made me sit back and think after almost every poem. It was a window into the author’s mind and I appreciated seeing his viewpoints on so many different topics.

I enjoyed how the author also included illustrations with most of the poems. I do wish the actual formatting of the book had been more consistent though.

Overall I would recommend this to any fans of poetry dealing with current events. It wasn’t an easy read but I think many people would benefit from it.
Profile Image for Alexandra.
Author 13 books89 followers
June 13, 2021
A poetry collection that offers a delicate glimpse into the author’s interests, as well as his opinions on each of them. While reading each poem, it is practically impossible not to feel the emotion nestled in the author’s soul.
The book is divided into four sections: anger and grief, women, nature, and happiness. Aside from the actual poems, the reader can read quotes and take delight in beautiful sketches. The author approaches a wide range of topics, including the environment, military interventions, womanhood, nature (African wildlife in particular) and happiness.
This is a collection of free-verse poetry, and I found each poem to be charged with emotion. The variety was a huge plus, as it allows readers to explore a diversity of feelings. Some poems remind you of the tragic side of living, while others are lighter, destined to lift your mood. It is not easy to address sensitive subjects, such as war, racism, or even the current pandemic through poetry, but the author has managed to rise up to the challenge.
Poetry has to be authentic and deep to speak to its reader(s). In this collection, you will find poems that meet both these two demands. They are written in a fresh style, and you can clearly see that each poem comes from a place of love. The chosen topics are portrayed not only to offer emotion but also to invite to reflection.
I loved this poetry collection. It allowed me to explore a wide array of emotions, and it was refreshing to feel the passion behind each poem. If you love reading poetry, I believe this collection is definitely the right choice.
Profile Image for Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews.
5,476 reviews177 followers
April 27, 2021
Justice can be delayed, but it can never be prevented entirely.

This was the first poetry collection I’ve read that mentioned the Covid-19 pandemic. Like everyone else on Earth, the author has spent well over a year now living with uncertainty and fear. Those emotions spilled out onto the page as he described what it felt like to read updates on this pandemic and the often-evolving advice on how to reduce one’s chances of getting sick. What really made his poetry special was how he responded to this pandemic once the first few months of it had passed by and he had a chance to immortalize his experiences. No, I can’t go into specifics here. It’s best if every reader can be surprised by the twists and turns in his journey for themselves, especially later on once he began to make references to his previous points . What I can say is that his perspective was simultaneously a unique look into how his mind worked and a chance to think about the many ways in which all of our responses to this disease have often overlapped.

While I liked the way everything was sorted out into four different sections by theme, the topics themselves were so different from each other that I did briefly wonder why the author decided to include them all in the same collection. Sometimes it felt a little odd to me to leap from one subject to the next like that. It was like reading four different books that weren’t quite similar enough to each other to be discussed in the same conversation. Had they either been separated or included poems that better wove all of the themes together, I would have felt comfortable giving this a higher rating.

Some of the best poems in my opinion were the ones that talked about how humans react to people who don’t look, think, or act the way they do. This ran the gamut from ideological differences to racial ones, and even that was only scratching the surface of the multitude of topics he covered. I often found myself nodding along with the author’s thoughts on how people should treat folks they don’t like or understand, especially when that feeling between the conflicting groups was mutual. Other passages he wrote made me wish I could sit down with him and dissect them with him. Body language and tone of voice matter just as much when it comes to interpretation, and I would have loved to hear and see how he’d make these poems come to life in person. This is definitely something that should be savored as one reads it.

Hearts and Spears was a thought-provoking collection I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys free verse.
Profile Image for Lee Hall.
Author 9 books214 followers
April 28, 2021
A unique and thought provoking collection of emotion-resonating poetry…

Hearts and Spears is a unique and thought provoking collection of emotion-resonating poetry that covers a multitude of subjects. From deep emotion all the way to politics and even nature Somto Jefferson Uwazie has left no stone unturned while constructing this journey that readers will enjoy every word of. There’s a certain balance of rhythm within these words that stretches across all of the poems – something that resonated with me because many poetry collections feel like they are mashed together but in this book they feel like they are supposed to be there side by side to convey a wide array of emotion.

There are some real moments where our kind poet has shared some life experiences such as losing a beloved pets and even his love for food. So many inputs represent the social element of life from the value of teachers to the wonderful but endangered species of Africa. We see pictures and illustrations throughout that heighten the senses and add value to the journey. Every poem is them crowned with a quote to remember from a famous figure and even some from our host. For anyone looking to take a journey of variety through some wonderfully crafted poetry then this is the one for you!

“Life offers one omnipresent constant,

Hope hope and even more hope… “
Profile Image for Daisy Blacklock.
81 reviews1 follower
February 24, 2023
3.8 out of 5 stars

Hearts and Spears by Somto Jefferson Uwazie is a powerful and incredibly interesting poetry collection.

I really loved how the book was sectioned off. My favourite section being ‘Anger and Grief’ as I thought it really packed a punch.

The poems were approachable and pretty straightforward making them easy to understand and easy to read. One of my favourite poems that I was really drawn to was ‘War Profiteers’. I also really liked ‘My pals are gone’.

Something I really liked in this collection was the illustrations and images throughout. I thought they made the entire thing even more enjoyable and broke up the text whilst also adding to the poems.

The poetry, just like Somto’s other collection held controversial opinions. I must say I didn’t always agree with them, but it was nice to see how Somto expressed his opinions unapologetically and I admire that.

Also, just like Somto’s other collection, I really liked that there were quotes after each poems that can expand your thoughts after reading the poem.

All of these poems are full of raw emotion and are incredibly powerful Overall I did really enjoy this incredibly interesting collection.

Order Hearts and Spears here: Hearts and Spears eBook : Uwazie, Somto Jefferson: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Thank you Somto for my copy.
Profile Image for Ethan Vonday.
Author 3 books17 followers
June 23, 2021
Politically powerful

This is a collection of politically powerful poetry with great visualization. In the process of tackling politics the poet also strikes the attention of socialism and how society’s flaws create several issues pertaining to race, abuse, and even disconnections. Several poems in this book state humans need to learn how to love again, and I totally agree.

My favorite chapbook included was the women one. The visualization and prose were exquisite.
Profile Image for Neerja.
508 reviews2 followers
February 8, 2024
This book was divided into different parts comprising of different topics. This poetry collection talks about politics and racism, Feminism, abuse and mental health. The poems were good with strong voice and I would like to recommend it.
Profile Image for Somto Jefferson Uwazie.
4 reviews6 followers
February 9, 2021
Awesome and inspiring poetry chapbook.
If you love poetry read this collection and you'll be amazed at the writer's bending with words.
Profile Image for Phire Free.
Author 1 book5 followers
July 5, 2021
Impactful and thought provoking. This has been an enjoyable read! The perspective of the writer invokes passion and emotion. I have truly enjoyed this read and recommend this collection.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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