Let’s Go Walking in the Storm: A Collection of Poetry and Reflections for Soul and Spirit, by Gloria D. Gonsalves contains over one hundred poems, including more than a dozen reflections on various topics. This anthology of poetry is comprised of poems about tolerance and inclusion, appreciating life, holding on to dreams, overcoming obstacles, protecting the earth, preserving nature, the COVID-19 pandemic, and death. The quantity of poems in this book ensures that each reader can find ones that speak to them personally.

I liked the poems with uplifting messages, that made me feel like we don’t have to be the perfect image that society depicts, and we shouldn’t compare ourselves to other people or what others expect us to be. I think it’s important for people to realize that they don’t have to be like everyone else, that we should embrace our own individual uniqueness.

The structures of the poems varied, which helped to make them feel distinct even though similar themes were used in multiple poems. For example, one of the poems was structured so that the first letter of each line spelled out a word that was the theme of the poem, some poems had very short verses of only two or three words, while other poems were broken up in to sections, and one poem was written in Swahili. Some of my favorite poems were the ones about nature. Like the author, I’ve always found joy in being outdoors. It was interesting to read the author’s notes at the end of some of the poems and reflections, which gave insight into the inspiration for writing them, or additional information about certain aspects of the prose. I enjoyed reading the reflections that asked questions of the reader to encourage thinking about and rethinking our own perceptions and considering how the concepts could be applied to our own lives.

Pages: 160 | ASIN: B08NVGY6NV