What do you think?
Rate this book
Blessings for a Heart in Bloom
A collection of love poems by known poet Kalen Dion.
- GenresPoetry
231 pages, Paperback
Published August 13, 2020
9 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 8, 2020
A must read for poetry lovers!!!
Kalen's first book is a beautiful work of art filled with heartfelt, thought provoking, soul touching pieces of poetry. His words will take you on a journey through heart and soul, love and heartache, the seasons of life and the growth each brings. Each piece touched me in a new way every time I read it. This is not a one time read that you finish and put in the bookcase, this is the book you carry with you, mark your favorite pages until it's earmarked and well worn and keep turning the pages discovering a new favorite each time. If you love poetry do yourself a favor and this one to your collection.
Kalen's first book is a beautiful work of art filled with heartfelt, thought provoking, soul touching pieces of poetry. His words will take you on a journey through heart and soul, love and heartache, the seasons of life and the growth each brings. Each piece touched me in a new way every time I read it. This is not a one time read that you finish and put in the bookcase, this is the book you carry with you, mark your favorite pages until it's earmarked and well worn and keep turning the pages discovering a new favorite each time. If you love poetry do yourself a favor and this one to your collection.
August 16, 2022
Kalen Dion is a poet, writer, a courageous trauma survivor, a beautiful soul, an artist, and a man who has completed himself.
This is one of his four books-Bone Deep, Some Good Fucking Poetry, Blink, and “Blessings for a heart in Bloom”. He is my favourite English poet. And a word of caution, his poetry is bone deep and resonates mostly with trauma survivors.
In this book, he has expressed beautifully himself, the wonders, pains, shades, and nuances of love, hate, self-respect, boundaries, void within us, and types of humans. As he is frazzled by the sordidness of wolves in human clothing, he has masterfully captured the pain-pleasure of tears & crying, trauma bonding, and addictive clinging wrapped in love. Relationships are his core area. Here his poetry seems apocalyptic, for he seems still smoldering after suffering through these. He does not hide the pain inflicted upon him by different abusive and sham relations, and their gyps. Though he jibes the gilts point-blank like "They are going to be angry
When you refuse to take their bullshit.
Let them be angry
alone
their bullshit can keep them company"
But he does not spread pain all around. No! he spreads wisdom crystallized from these pains. After chasing so many mirages, he reaches an oasis of self-discovery. His poetry empowers and the pinnacle is the relationship of one with oneself in “the art of self-destruction”
“I have been in many abusive relationships,
But the ones I’ve developed with myself
Have been by far the most damaging.”
Many other scholars e.g. the mighty Indian Muslim theologist, sociologist, and philosopher Mulana Waheeduddin Khan has beautifully underscored this thought as “save yourself from yourself.”
Kalen believes in gentleness, tenderness, and authenticity.
“Touch me so gently
That the tips of your fingers
Dip into
The pond of my soul.”
His selection of words, parables, and symbols is very powerful. So much so that he seems to give language to non-living things. For example, he draws pictures of his pathological loneliness as
“There are days where I am made of empty hands,
Empty rooms,
And absences that have grown to feel like home”.
He believes in giving everything in love and is thus live in extremes. Perhaps this all-or-nothing attitude is one cause of his miseries.
“If you plan to pick up my heart
Make sure you hold it
With both of your hands
And all of your soul”
At times, he seems polemical and at times confused. But at other times, it seems a philosopher of the highest credence is directly speaking to us like
“Love is a great privilege and an even greater responsibility.
To open oneself to love is the deepest kind of vulnerability.
To allow someone to love us is to give them the power to
Destroy us, and to trust, and to hope, and to pray that they
Won’t”.
At another place, he recites,
“People become the liars the moment their fear of repercussion
For their behavior outweighs their fear of losing your respect”
Like a sensitive human and a loving son of this mother Earth, he is deeply concerned with planting more trees, making the environment conducive, and leaving a very fine legacy for our children. Thus he merges emotional intelligence, love, and parenting masterfully as
“Don’t let them pollute your soul with anger.
Your lovers breathe your winds.
Your children breathe your words.”
He hates wars, inflicting pain, selfishness, and other mean emotions. He endorses the idea of feminine love in masculine bodies. In Pakistan, I have seen Zulafqar Bhutto Junior not only endorsing this version of love but practicing it also despite quadruple murders in his immediate family (Grandfather& Aunt -both premiers of Pakistan, his father-a parliamentarian and his Uncle). Kalen wants authentic love which is neither an addictive clinging and controlling nor is becoming a doormat. He says
“You will know the “ I love you” is genuine
When it asks you
For nothing
But to be
Exactly who you are”.
His poetry is illuminating for it is very deep and wide. He captures almost all emotions and in this way teaches us how to handle these wild beasts. He endorses the idea of Mulana Rumi in his famous “Guest House” to acknowledge, welcome, and let stay the thoughts and feelings but do not feed them and let them go.
“There are feelings
For which there are no words
You are going to have to feel them anyway.
Let them come as they will,
And then,
Let them go”
When he speaks about sorrows, griefs, traumas, miseries, etc. , the reader becomes weary and unable to understand what he wants. In the words of the great Indian philospher poet Mirza Ghalib
,-جلا ہے جسم جہاں, دل بھی جل گیا ہوگا
کریدتے ہو جو اب راکھ! جستجو کیا ہے!
-----
But soon he comes with treasures that all these are part of the completion process. And this is a very powerful thought as it immediately pushes one from drowning in the ocean of despair and hopelessness and victimhood to beaches of survival, heroism, and courage. Even the scars left behind have a beautiful purpose for the courageous survivor of the abuse as “marks of wisdom”
“Happiness will visit your heart,
Sorrow will visit your heart,
Each of them is bringing you pieces of yourself.”
Similarly,
“You may call them scars
But I call them
My wisdom marks.
They tell the story
Of how I earned
Every ounce of love
That ever came my way.”
Anyway, there are flowers of wisdom, empathy, love, respect for humanity, and life scattered all around his poetry. This poetry seems more like a work of art than words. It appears as if we can see with our own eyes the different happenings. His message is profound, encouraging, and illuminating, though at times glum. It is a turn-around for a normal human over-weighed by miseries, pain, and cruelty so much so that he has started plucking his own petals. He calls him again to recognize his original status instead of groveling and peeving. Here he seems messenger of divine message underlined in the words of the Holy Quran “وَ اِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلٰٓىٕكَةِ اِنِّیْ جَاعِلٌ فِی الْاَرْضِ خَلِیْفَه”. When God spoke to angels while creating Adam that “I am going to appoint my deputy in the universe”(2:30)
Kalen is poking homosapiens vicariously as
“The universe has traveled a billion years to reach you,
A hundred thousand romances have given you their voice
And each and every star
Is sending you their light.”
And then
“You are a fucking masterpiece,
You’re a fucking miracle,
Or I don’t know what is”
This is one of his four books-Bone Deep, Some Good Fucking Poetry, Blink, and “Blessings for a heart in Bloom”. He is my favourite English poet. And a word of caution, his poetry is bone deep and resonates mostly with trauma survivors.
In this book, he has expressed beautifully himself, the wonders, pains, shades, and nuances of love, hate, self-respect, boundaries, void within us, and types of humans. As he is frazzled by the sordidness of wolves in human clothing, he has masterfully captured the pain-pleasure of tears & crying, trauma bonding, and addictive clinging wrapped in love. Relationships are his core area. Here his poetry seems apocalyptic, for he seems still smoldering after suffering through these. He does not hide the pain inflicted upon him by different abusive and sham relations, and their gyps. Though he jibes the gilts point-blank like "They are going to be angry
When you refuse to take their bullshit.
Let them be angry
alone
their bullshit can keep them company"
But he does not spread pain all around. No! he spreads wisdom crystallized from these pains. After chasing so many mirages, he reaches an oasis of self-discovery. His poetry empowers and the pinnacle is the relationship of one with oneself in “the art of self-destruction”
“I have been in many abusive relationships,
But the ones I’ve developed with myself
Have been by far the most damaging.”
Many other scholars e.g. the mighty Indian Muslim theologist, sociologist, and philosopher Mulana Waheeduddin Khan has beautifully underscored this thought as “save yourself from yourself.”
Kalen believes in gentleness, tenderness, and authenticity.
“Touch me so gently
That the tips of your fingers
Dip into
The pond of my soul.”
His selection of words, parables, and symbols is very powerful. So much so that he seems to give language to non-living things. For example, he draws pictures of his pathological loneliness as
“There are days where I am made of empty hands,
Empty rooms,
And absences that have grown to feel like home”.
He believes in giving everything in love and is thus live in extremes. Perhaps this all-or-nothing attitude is one cause of his miseries.
“If you plan to pick up my heart
Make sure you hold it
With both of your hands
And all of your soul”
At times, he seems polemical and at times confused. But at other times, it seems a philosopher of the highest credence is directly speaking to us like
“Love is a great privilege and an even greater responsibility.
To open oneself to love is the deepest kind of vulnerability.
To allow someone to love us is to give them the power to
Destroy us, and to trust, and to hope, and to pray that they
Won’t”.
At another place, he recites,
“People become the liars the moment their fear of repercussion
For their behavior outweighs their fear of losing your respect”
Like a sensitive human and a loving son of this mother Earth, he is deeply concerned with planting more trees, making the environment conducive, and leaving a very fine legacy for our children. Thus he merges emotional intelligence, love, and parenting masterfully as
“Don’t let them pollute your soul with anger.
Your lovers breathe your winds.
Your children breathe your words.”
He hates wars, inflicting pain, selfishness, and other mean emotions. He endorses the idea of feminine love in masculine bodies. In Pakistan, I have seen Zulafqar Bhutto Junior not only endorsing this version of love but practicing it also despite quadruple murders in his immediate family (Grandfather& Aunt -both premiers of Pakistan, his father-a parliamentarian and his Uncle). Kalen wants authentic love which is neither an addictive clinging and controlling nor is becoming a doormat. He says
“You will know the “ I love you” is genuine
When it asks you
For nothing
But to be
Exactly who you are”.
His poetry is illuminating for it is very deep and wide. He captures almost all emotions and in this way teaches us how to handle these wild beasts. He endorses the idea of Mulana Rumi in his famous “Guest House” to acknowledge, welcome, and let stay the thoughts and feelings but do not feed them and let them go.
“There are feelings
For which there are no words
You are going to have to feel them anyway.
Let them come as they will,
And then,
Let them go”
When he speaks about sorrows, griefs, traumas, miseries, etc. , the reader becomes weary and unable to understand what he wants. In the words of the great Indian philospher poet Mirza Ghalib
,-جلا ہے جسم جہاں, دل بھی جل گیا ہوگا
کریدتے ہو جو اب راکھ! جستجو کیا ہے!
-----
But soon he comes with treasures that all these are part of the completion process. And this is a very powerful thought as it immediately pushes one from drowning in the ocean of despair and hopelessness and victimhood to beaches of survival, heroism, and courage. Even the scars left behind have a beautiful purpose for the courageous survivor of the abuse as “marks of wisdom”
“Happiness will visit your heart,
Sorrow will visit your heart,
Each of them is bringing you pieces of yourself.”
Similarly,
“You may call them scars
But I call them
My wisdom marks.
They tell the story
Of how I earned
Every ounce of love
That ever came my way.”
Anyway, there are flowers of wisdom, empathy, love, respect for humanity, and life scattered all around his poetry. This poetry seems more like a work of art than words. It appears as if we can see with our own eyes the different happenings. His message is profound, encouraging, and illuminating, though at times glum. It is a turn-around for a normal human over-weighed by miseries, pain, and cruelty so much so that he has started plucking his own petals. He calls him again to recognize his original status instead of groveling and peeving. Here he seems messenger of divine message underlined in the words of the Holy Quran “وَ اِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلٰٓىٕكَةِ اِنِّیْ جَاعِلٌ فِی الْاَرْضِ خَلِیْفَه”. When God spoke to angels while creating Adam that “I am going to appoint my deputy in the universe”(2:30)
Kalen is poking homosapiens vicariously as
“The universe has traveled a billion years to reach you,
A hundred thousand romances have given you their voice
And each and every star
Is sending you their light.”
And then
“You are a fucking masterpiece,
You’re a fucking miracle,
Or I don’t know what is”
November 5, 2020
A beautiful tome filled with love, wisdom, and sadness.
April 6, 2021
I love all of Kalen's writes. This book simply exemplifies his brilliance and talent in Poetry.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews