Title: From Despair to Hope and Healing
Author: Barbara K. Mezera
Publisher: LitFire Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-64045-9274
Pages: 170
Reviewed by: Ella Vincent
Hollywood Book Reviews
From Despair to Hope and Healing is an inspiring collection of poems by Barbara K. Mezera. Her poems about surviving depression will be a hopeful sign to readers.
From Despair to Hope and Healing deals candidly with Mezera’s struggles with mental illness. In poems such as “Anger” she writes about a narrator which is facing the anger that can be the converse side of depression and its effect on loved ones: “An aura surrounding me/Swirling, clawing, and scratching/It scares everyone away.”
She gives depression a human quality by calling it “The Big D” and writes about how it drives her to self-destruction in “The Demon and I.” In it “He rides my back/Makes me do foolish and crazy things/Then I hate myself and he gloats.” Mezera also writes about the invisibility she feels as a misunderstood introverted person in poems like “Shy” when the narrator wants to be accepted by her peers: “Won’t someone sometime somewhere accept her, shyness and all?”
While there are many poems about feeling depressed and an outcast, there are many poems that celebrate life as well in From Despair to Hope and Healing with the help of faith and friendship. In poems like “Woman to Woman” she writes about a narrator finding communion with a group of women: “Strong women/Listening to music/Sharing stories/Laughing and caring for each other.”
Mezera’s writing is relatable and powerful. Her poems cover a range of emotions like pain suffering alone as a child. There is also empathy as a teacher consoling parents and teachers. Finally, Mezera and the narrators of her poems find joy communing with God and friends. From Despair to Hope and Healing is divided into sections that easily tell readers about the dominant themes in her life, like “Health Matters, Too” and “Wrestling with the Big D.” The illustrations in From Despair to Hope and Healing add depth to the poems, such as the rich symbolism of a turtle in its shell in the poems about shyness.
From Despair to Hope and Healing would be best for readers who are conquering mental illness. Even readers who aren’t living with depression could learn how to empathize with those who do. Additionally, this book could help introverted readers who feel misunderstood for being quiet. The poems would also be ideal for readers who love refreshingly honest female poets like Sylvia Plath or Maya Angelou.
From Despair to Hope and Healing will take readers on a journey from heartbreak to triumph. Mezera’s poetry will inspire readers to express their pain and eventually find joy.