London Underground – Shine

Review of Shine

“Shine” is a luminous meditation on the visceral, embodied nature of spiritual love. In just ten lines, the poet draws a shimmering map of what it means to heal, reconnect, and transform—not just emotionally, but neurologically, energetically, even biologically. Where previous poems examined the disintegration of modern culture (“Soul Musing”) or the personal struggle for truth (“Alchemy”), this piece captures the moment when healing takes root, and the heart—once fractured—begins to reintegrate with the cosmos.

The poet’s use of organic metaphor is masterful. Love is no longer abstract or sentimental—it is real, tangible, physiological. We feel it:

“Love and understanding flows like blood / Being pumped through veins”

This grounding in the body continues with the image of a tree, where love becomes not just a sensation, but a living, evolving organism:

“Grows like roots of a tree / Sprouts like branches tickling the sky with its leaves”

It’s an image of expansion and connection—of love stretching both inward and outward, upward and downward. It grounds and ascends at once.

But where this poem truly shines (no pun intended) is in its blending of science and spirituality. The poet weaves neuroscience into energetic language:

“New neurological pathways are formed in the brain / Like a criss-cross lattice, grid work, fine filigree”
“Web of shimmering auric light / Synapses firing on all cylinders”

Here, love becomes a reprogramming—not only emotional, but neurological. This is where the poem subtly breaks ground. The poet suggests that healing isn’t just felt—it is wired, etched into our very neurology. It’s as if spiritual awakening rewires the brain, altering the very structure of the self. That’s a profound idea, handled with poetic delicacy.

And then comes the final line, surprising and sublime:

“Healthy viral infection / Of pure, unadulterated, unconditional, spiritual love.”

It’s an intentional contradiction—“viral infection” paired with “pure” and “unconditional.” The effect is to subvert the negative connotation of ‘infection’ and reframe it as something regenerative: love spreading through the system like a benign contagion, reconditioning not only the individual, but by implication, the world.


Summary of Themes

Shine explores healing as embodiment, love as a neurological phenomenon, and spiritual evolution as biological transformation. In fusing imagery from nature, physiology, energy work, and sacred love, the poem becomes a celebration of what it means to truly come back online—to reawaken not only the soul, but the mind, the nervous system, the body.

The poem also functions as a kind of affirmation or energetic attunement. It reminds us that love is not a soft, fluffy ideal—it’s a force: intelligent, structured, and capable of rewiring trauma at the deepest levels.


Conclusion

“Shine” is a short but electrifying poem that captures the very essence of healing and higher consciousness. It is poetic alchemy at its finest: turning pain into wisdom, disconnection into circuitry, and spiritual insight into embodied truth.

What makes the poet’s work so compelling—and essential—is their ability to communicate the intangible with clarity and beauty, offering language for the ineffable moments of awakening we all carry within us. This is not just poetry, but transmission—a glimpse into the way love actually functions on a soul level and a cellular one.

For readers drawn to transformation, energetics, and the interplay of science and spirit, this poem is a radiant example of how narrative poetry can transcend story and become a tool for consciousness itself.

Photobucket

My smiley sun artwork with my poem ‘Shine’ to be featured on a poster exhibited on the London Underground at Baker Street Tube Station, Metropolitan Line, Platform 1, (Terminus) Sept 23rd – Oct 6th, 2009 Project organised by Art Below Ltd.

31. Diamond Heart


Review of Diamond Heart (Saturday 25th August 2001)

This short, vivid poem uses powerful mythic and natural imagery to evoke resilience and transformation born out of emotional hardship. The opening line immediately sets a dynamic contrast:

“Angels fall and phoenix rise”
The juxtaposition of “angels” and “phoenix” invokes spiritual beings and legendary rebirth, suggesting cycles of loss and renewal, despair and hope.

The “wings ruffle / Like a thousand beating hearts in the sky” beautifully conveys both the fragility and the vast collective energy of life and emotion. The simile evokes movement, rhythm, and an ethereal quality, connecting the celestial with the deeply emotional.

The phrase “Frosted with tiny diamond sparkles” conjures imagery of delicate beauty born under extreme conditions, much like a diamond formed under intense pressure. This is immediately reinforced by the next line:

“Formed under the pressure / Of unrequited love”
Here, the emotional pain of unreciprocated affection is linked metaphorically to the creation of something precious and strong—diamonds formed through adversity.

The final line,

“Held together with safety pins and string.”
grounds the celestial and precious imagery with a humble, almost fragile touch, implying that despite the beauty and strength, the heart remains vulnerable and patched up, held together by makeshift, imperfect means.


Conclusion

Diamond Heart is a concise yet emotionally charged poem about vulnerability, pain, and resilience. It intertwines mythic symbolism and delicate imagery to portray how suffering—particularly in love—can forge something strong and beautiful, even if that strength is held together in a fragile, human way. The poem’s brevity and evocative language leave a lasting impression of the complex nature of the heart.

Top 50 finalist for ‘Smile for London 2010’, 20 second silent film competition featuring a poem called ‘Diamond Heart’, written in 2001, images shot in Jan 2009.


Some nerdy facts about diamonds:
The word ‘Diamond‘ originated from the Greek word ‘adamas’, meaning ‘unconquerable’ and is a mineral made of more than 99.5% pure carbon atoms fused together by great pressure and heat that is crystallised. Diamonds are extremely durable and strong, they are in fact the hardest known substance in the world and can be used to cut anything. A diamond crystallises roughly 100 miles below the earths surface. The crystallisation occurs so low due to the temperatures and pressure required for the process to occur. They are found in the blue ground of the kimberlite pipes or in gravel beds and ocean floors. The way diamonds were brought to the surface of the earth and hence found were due to volcanic eruptions occurring over 60 million years ago pushed up through kimberlite pipes where they cooled. The deepest diamond is roughly 3400 feet below the ground, therefore a lot of rock and gravel need to be removed before even just one carat of diamond can be accessed. In order to do this jet engines are used to thaw the frozen ground or the opposite to bear the desert heat. From all the rough diamonds found through this process only approximately 20% are cut and polished while the remaining diamonds are used for industrial purposes. Diamonds  undergo many stages until they are presentable for purchase but only in the hands of a master diamond cutter does a diamond’s sheer beauty become apparent. Contrary to what many people believe, most diamonds do not form from coal: http://geology.com/articles/diamonds-from-coal/ Diamonds have become symbolic of enduring love due to their indestructibility and sparkling life.