Heart of Africa! — Patricia Schonstein

The poems in this anthology illuminate the infinitesimal detail of intricate and true love. We find the unadulterated first kiss, first touch and first breaking of all things virginal. We see love's sweetness, its temper and the hurt it causes. There are some bursts of eroticism. Beautiful body-forms are draped on couches and beds or across wilderness settings. Wet and pulsing corporal landscapes serve as boudoirs. There is the occasional touch of humour with some make-believe and pretence too, in unexpected milieux.

Running through all the poems, like an underground river or an electric charge, is the longing that we all have to be held by another; the longing to find meaning in that other; and to give back meaning in return.

It is the yearning for the Beloved and it is always the Lover speaking.