At This Table - by Raphael Block (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

I look back at the deep sighs expressed in these poems, sighs of love and longing that we share in the same spirit breath. My short sojourn here, embraced by this great, generous being Earth, asks of me to "give back one speck, one jot, of all / you pour into these marrowed bones" (from Meeting Light, in this book). Beauty is one way of doing this, as are tending to plants, caring for animals, and participating in our own communities. There is no limit to the power we can express in our lives on a daily basis. As Mother Theresa said, "Small things with great love. The moment we offer them to (Spirit), they become infinite."

May these verses be a source of surprise, discovery, and uplift for you. Please feel free to share them in whatever way comes most naturally to you, be it song, dance, drawing, reciting, quilting, posting, or any other form. - Raphael Block

Review Quotes

This gathering of poetry by Raphael Block is in deep spiritual movement. I can't tell if it's one Dervish whirling out all six dimensions of consciousness contained in these pages or rather six Dervishes who, interweaving one another, stir to life all seventy-five poems in their up-turned palms.

Am I mesmerized by the clear and exquisite detail? Am I awakened by a profoundly sincere Love? Are these two seemingly different results serving one another? I feel the answer is yes, but I encourage you to read At This Table for yourself! You may be pleased to discover so much more.

John Fox, Author of The Only Gift to Bring; President, The Institute for Poetic Medicine

Raphael Block's lyrical collection invites us to imagine "this table," as far more than a table - an ecologically expansive structure set to welcome the intricacies of the natural world, and ourselves as an integral part of that whole. His songs of praise are elated with the details. Here is a celebration that dissolves the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces, and offers us a chance to "flourish and breathe under sun-fog-rain sway."

Maya Khosla, Sonoma County Poet Laureate, Author of All the Fires of Wind and Light