Saturday, October 14, 2006

A Chicago Poet Takes on the Bush Administration

Staff - PRWeb Newswire
Sunday, April 2, 2006

Poet Gugo Veles pays tribute to the great Sufi poet, Rumi, and indicts the Bush administration in Rumiyat, a stellar collection of poems about politics, life and romance, set against metropolitan Chicago.

The parallels between Veles and Rumi are clear and to the point. As Rumi searched for harmony, enlightenment and moral certitude in a world threatened by intolerance and oppression, Veles is acutely aware of our own current challenges.

In poem after poem, Veles limns our longing for inner peace and understanding. He delves into the failure of international human rights. And he points out how our blind adherence to philosophy and religion has led us not into enlightenment, but on to a dark, dangerous and tragic path. Intolerance, bigotry, shifty double standards, force-fed organized religion and fundamentalism, Veles urges, are the road to ruin. Instead of blindly following, we should start to find our own pathways.

Written with the same unexpected imagery that Rumi was known for, Veles’ perfectly pared-down verses shimmer with the capacity to uplift our consciousness. Reading these poems, Veles hopes, will awaken readers to their deeper, more spiritual selves. “To see myself, I open wide my eyes,” he writes, advising readers to think harder, look deeper, and be more aware. What the world needs now is Rumi…and Rumiyat.

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Saturday, October 14, 2006

A Chicago Poet Takes on the Bush Administration
Staff - PRWeb Newswire
Sunday, April 2, 2006

Poet Gugo Veles pays tribute to the great Sufi poet, Rumi, and indicts the Bush administration in Rumiyat, a stellar collection of poems about politics, life and romance, set against metropolitan Chicago.

The parallels between Veles and Rumi are clear and to the point. As Rumi searched for harmony, enlightenment and moral certitude in a world threatened by intolerance and oppression, Veles is acutely aware of our own current challenges.

In poem after poem, Veles limns our longing for inner peace and understanding. He delves into the failure of international human rights. And he points out how our blind adherence to philosophy and religion has led us not into enlightenment, but on to a dark, dangerous and tragic path. Intolerance, bigotry, shifty double standards, force-fed organized religion and fundamentalism, Veles urges, are the road to ruin. Instead of blindly following, we should start to find our own pathways.

Written with the same unexpected imagery that Rumi was known for, Veles’ perfectly pared-down verses shimmer with the capacity to uplift our consciousness. Reading these poems, Veles hopes, will awaken readers to their deeper, more spiritual selves. “To see myself, I open wide my eyes,” he writes, advising readers to think harder, look deeper, and be more aware. What the world needs now is Rumi…and Rumiyat.

No comments: