Review: Utterly Loved by Kat Bastion

Posted December 6, 2012 by Karen in Book Reviews / 3 Comments

20121119-181240.jpg Title: Utterly Loved
Author: Kat Bastion
Genre: Poetry
Grade/Rating: 5 out of 5

In an exclusive interview, Kat Bastion revealed to us what inspired her to write poetry. New York Times Bestselling author Sylvain Reynard wrote a guest post for us, here on the Literati Literatures Lovers blog, titled: The Art and Poetry of Desire and it was that entry that inspired Bastion to write.

To say that I am devoted to poetry would be an understatement. I grew up on poetry and some of the first reading I ever did were poems. Most of the rhythms we all learn as children are just little poems. Each Wednesday on our blog we feature poetry, which we label as Poetry Wednesday, because we believe that poetry of all types should be read and enjoyed. I have often thought that poets don’t bleed blood, but ink; because they express every emotion they have in their poetry. Poetry is the bone and marrow of expressive writing because the poet puts their life experiences into each poem with every word they choose.

The emotion Bastion focuses on is one of the most complex of our human emotions: love. The book explores love; through the use of imagery, the seasons, grace, passion, exploration, family, happiness, and desire; the myriad of emotions of living. Utterly Loved is about living and the questions that surround us. How does one live their life; as a player in the game or as a spectator? What is the quality of a life well lived? What do we, as humans, imprint on the world? What do we cherish and leave behind?

In her poems, Bastion cherishes life lived in love. Like any good poet she’s able to invoke emotions through the imagery that her words paint, on the landscape of her art. In her poem Sum of Days, she explorers the many facets of love, those of Storge, Philia, Eros and Agape. These stages of love comprise how we as humans relate to each other and what we recognize as love in ourselves. In the poems Transcendence, Beautiful Seasons, and Something About Snow, the simple love of a season or place; is how she brings out the joy of living. The sensual delights of love are delved into in both Undone and Heaven…Found. The ability to give yourself over completely in the act of love, to lay ones soul bare to another, is probed in the poem Utterly Loved. The poems Sun in my Eyes and Saturday Morning bind the deep hope and strength of love. Each of the twenty one poems in the book are beautiful and should be read and enjoyed. Everyone wishes to love and be loved in the same way that Bastion writes about amore.

The truly remarkable thing about this book is not the words about love, but the author herself. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to Worldvision and Covenant House. So I would encourage everyone who reads this review to buy at least one copy; heck buy two and donate one to your local library. Better yet, since it is the Holiday Season, buy several and give them as gifts.

Fans of Sylvain Reynard will be interested to know that he wrote the forward to UTTERLY LOVED.

Where to Buy: Amazon

Kat Bastion website

3 responses to “Review: Utterly Loved by Kat Bastion

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