Review: Deep, heartfelt and inspired.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 26, 2014
I do not read many compilations of Poetry.  I find poetry to be an art form that’s beauty  can be both abstract and unattainable – it is the verbal embodiment of the phrase ‘eye of the beholder.’  With “Find Yourself: A Poet’s Journey” author Feng Zhou proved me right, and oh so very wrong.  While beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, I know no one that cannot look at this collection of works and see the beauty in the phraseology.Zhou has put together a collection that chronicles his journey to who, and what he is –exactly as the title implies.  Each poem is different in tone and reflection, jumping from topic to topic, prose to prose, even leaping across oceans or plundering their depths – he travels the world with his words and invites us to share this incredibly unique adventure.  In addition to thought provoking pieces like ‘There is a Scene’ and ‘At Middle Age’ our guide adds helpful and educational footnotes to some of his poems.  Some of this is information regarding certain Dynasty’s, times, locations or historical moments, and then there are blurbs surrounding current events, like the tragic death of Wang Yue, whom readers might remember as the two year old toddler who was struck by two drivers in a busy Chinese Intersection and left there by no less than 18 passerby’s.  This moment was immortalized in International News – and now serves as inspiration for such gut churning pieces as, ‘The Last Words of Wang Yue,’  and ‘For Little Yueyue.’This collection is not light, nor is it light hearted.  It calls on a deeper emotion and begs deeper thought.  This would be an ideal addition to any library for those that do not shy away from the human condition, those that enjoy classical thought and writing, along with fans of both modern and more classical poetry.