Long Poems for Awakening: Zenda, Pearl Fishers, Ashtavakra

Poems for Awakening is aimed at readers who love classical poetry and are interested in mind / body / spirit literature. These three long poems follow on from Alan Jacob's previous collection 108 Sonnets For Awakening (O Books) and are especially written for those interested in or practicing a spiritual path of any denomination. The first poem Zenda is a swashbuckling adventure story based on the famous novel the Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. It raises the whole question of personal identity and is largely composed in Byronic Stanzas. The Pearl Fishers is set in Sri Lanka and is an adventure story based around a Pearl Fishing Boy. Diving for pearls is a metaphor for diving into the spiritual heart to find the 'pearl of great price'. He is assisted by a Ferryman called Skanda and Uma, his sister. The poem is composed in Spencerian Stanzas. Ashtavakra is a saga based on the classical India Classic the Ashtavakra Gita which tells how the crippled Ashtavakra brought King Janaka to self realisation. It is written in rhyming couplets in the manner of Rumi.