Book Title: Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings
Author: Melissa Studdard. Christopher Theofanidis (Composer)
Elisa Vendramin (Contributor) Publisher: Saint Julian Press, Inc.
Date of Publication: April 3, 2020. Reviewer: Megha Sood
When I received this personally signed copy of the book as a gift by Melissa Studdard and Christopher Theofanidis, I had no idea what journey this beautiful piece of art would take me to.
The book, a riveting collection of poems, arts, and music interspersed through its pages traverses the journey of mythical thousands of birds across the world in order to find their leader, Simorgh. These poems share the journey of the birds as they traverse through self-discovery through love, wisdom, and knowledge and pass through the seven valleys to find their communion with the divine and share the profundity of its journey with its readers.
The poems are a direct response to the spirituality and the divinity seeded in a flight of birds. The mellifluous elements of the flying have been portrayed by the musical notes composed by the songwriter Christopher Theofanidis and the stunning artwork by Elisa Vendramin.
The poems act as an intersection of desires, purpose, and possibilities reflected in the journey of birds traveling as a single whole entity. The exquisite arts spread through the pages of this gorgeous collection complements the beauty of Melissa’s poems. This collaboration of three artists in the peak has given birth to this gorgeous collection. The realization by the birds that every part of their being is interconnected and they are a divine whole is the underlying message carried by this collection.
The book has been divided into multiple sections of their metaphoric journeys namely valley of the quest, unity, detachment, love, poverty and annihilation, wonderment, and knowledge. I would definitely recommend this one-of-a-kind collection of poems weaved with arts and music to the readers. A beauty to cherish forever.
Reviewer’s bio: Megha Sood is a Pushcart-nominated Award-Winning Poet, Editor, and Blogger from New Jersey. An Associate Poetry Editor at journals MookyChick (UK), Life and Legends (USA), and Partner in Literary project “Life in Quarantine” with Stanford University, USA. Over 600+ Works featured including Poetry Society of New York, American Writers Review, Kissing Dynamite, and many more. National Level Winner Spring Mahogany Lit Prize 2020 and Three-Time State-level winner of NJ Poetry Contest 2018/2019/2020. Recipient of Poet Fellowship from Martha Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing (MVICW) 2021. Co-Editor ( “The Medusa Project”, Mookychick) and (“The Kali Project, Indie Blu(e) Press). Author of forthcoming Chapbook ( “My Body is Not an Apology”, Finishing line press, 2021) and Full Length (“My Body Lives Like a Threat”, FlowerSong Press, 2021). Blogs at https://meghasworldsite.wordpress.com/ and tweets at @meghasood16
