Review of Champion

Tuesday 13th March 2012

Summary

Champion carries such a warm, soul-forward resonance. It is an ode to emotional resilience, courageous vulnerability, and the redemptive power of love in action. In just a few flowing stanzas, the poem moves from sorrow to strength — reminding us that to have loved, even if that love ended in heartbreak, is not a failure but a mark of inner nobility. Through the poet’s grounded, salt-air imagery and affirming cadence, we are reminded that emotional engagement with the world is not weakness — it is spiritual service.

Why This Poem Matters

At its heart, this poem is a declaration of dignity — not the kind bestowed by status, success, or survival, but the quieter, nobler kind earned through caring deeply. The metaphor of coastlines lost to “the salt winds of time” is not just poetic melancholy — it’s an honest recognition of how much can be lost through prolonged grief, guilt, or regret.

“Whole shorelines of years / Entire coastal regions of life / Can get swept away…”

This is more than lament; it’s a gentle warning — one that validates the pain of loss while encouraging us not to dwell too long in its undertow. The poem doesn’t ask us to deny our sorrow — instead, it repositions heartbreak as evidence of a life well-lived:

“To have gained a broken heart / Along the way / Means that once you believed enough to try”

There’s something radical in this — the idea that emotional wounds are not just battle scars but badges of honour. In a world that often rewards detachment, cynicism, or emotional numbing, this poem reminds us that showing up with love is itself a sacred act.

The Dance Between Metaphysical & Material

This piece dances beautifully between earthly metaphor and spiritual truth. On the one hand, we’re grounded in tangible imagery: oceans, coastlines, salt winds. On the other, we’re invited into the deeper symbolic realm of soul-growth and purpose.

“To share one’s love for the world / With the world / Is a rare and special gift”

That small but potent line transforms love into a collective offering — not something private or transactional, but a gift to humanity. This is the poem’s central metaphysical proposition: that love, even when it doesn’t “work out” in the conventional sense, is never wasted. To love is to champion the world — to say yes to existence, to growth, to soul evolution.

And in doing so, we join something larger — what the poem calls:

“An invitation to the Dance of Life”

This phrase is beautiful, not just as metaphor, but as metaphysical teaching. It’s an echo of the Tao, of flow, of surrender to a divine rhythm greater than any one moment or outcome. To love is to move in alignment with life itself.

In Conclusion

Champion is a quietly triumphant piece — one that reframes heartbreak not as a personal failure, but as a rite of passage and a sign of spiritual maturity. It honours the path of those who dare to feel, to open, and to give love — even without guarantees.

Rather than advising us to harden ourselves against pain, the poem encourages continued engagement: to seize the moment, to stay soft-hearted, and to keep dancing — even if the last song left us aching.

This poem is a salve for anyone who has ever questioned whether it was “worth it” — a reminder that yes, it absolutely was. Because to champion love in a wounded world is to be a champion of life itself.