Mr. Lucian Sperta arrives with a new book of poetry entitled Dukkha, a name derived from Buddhist philosophy.
In Wikpedia Dukkha is defined as “suggestive of an underlying sense of ‘unsatisfactoriness’ or ‘unease’ that must ultimately mar even our experience of happiness… disquietude as in the condition of being disturbed… Accordingly, dukkha can refer to various unpleasant experiences in varying degrees. It can range anywhere from discomfort to suffering.”
Here is where Mr. Sperta makes his head way in his new work. Dukkha is a journey which reveals loss in varying degrees, it is not clear whether he embraces this loss, or is attached. He appears to struggle with both. Mr. Sperta allows us to see the loss in varies stages, and how this loss has effected his own view of his life and the world around him, thus Dukkha is the internal reaction to his external experiences. Out of his previous four works, Dukkha is the longest book of poems, here he deals with varying issues such as the AIDS crisis in Africa, war fare and its effects on society, and letting go of the image of his mother. He also appears to struggle with saying good-bye to past experiences, but there is a willingness to finally let go and be “renewed.”
In his new book of poems, Mr. Sperta realizes and accepts his coming alive from the darkness of his personal life experiences, and begins to make the path towards “detachment”.
Dukkha is a moving away from the “old attachments” as it begins to allow the writer to enter the “detachment” phase of his life. Clinging too tightly to the past has caused Dukkha. In varying ways throughout this new work he is saying good-bye to the conflicts that so engulfed him throughout his journey for recovery and healing.
Dukkha is the story of this journey from “attachments” and reaching the stages of “detachment” and healing. Dukkha is being reported as the last leg of this journey, the author reports he may not indulge in the realm of his history with sexual abuse, but may make attempts to venture into other areas he sees that are imperative to write about. He will continue to report on his recovery, but it will play a smaller role in his future work of poems. As he writes “It will not be easy to let it all slip away; residue is a common factor that cannot be ruled out.” He reminds us about the possible departure from being to laden with grief and sadness as he states: “Today what lies in these pages, are the tattered remains of a dying yesterday and a tomorrows rebirth-of self. This is the final ending toward a new beginning.” Time will tell what his next release would reveal in his journey but in the end he closes, “I am healing as I am getting old!,And with this I end to finally move on, creating a new tomorrow -toward a new dawn.”
For the readers of Mr. Sperta’s poems, it will be some time as he regroups, and moves away from this dark journey into a new light of rejuvenation and reexamination of his current life status. In the future we look forward to his internal and external revelations.
The following books by Lucian are available for purchase in Kindle Edition online below:
Dukkha
El – אל
I of the Storm
Yesterday’s Rain
Azar’El
I am Aleph
Lucian Sperta can be followed on Twitter here: @Azarel63.