The Lightness of Being by Gorman Poetry is a collection of the author's original poetry and centers around a theme of interconnectedness, with the harmony of all moving parts being indivisibly woven from the same cloth. The work employs a rhyme scheme using assonance, completing verses with end rhymes. These are composed in both as AABB series of couplets that rhyme successively and share four verses in a stanza, and also an ABAB scheme that is used independently and sometimes switched even in the same poem. This includes work such as Heart of Godness, which really digs deep into the theme of oneness and alternates between each in any given stanza.

Gorman Poetry brings together a unique collection of over thirty poems in The Lightness of Being. I found the parallels of the concept that each poem is independent, but still equally linked in the body of the compilation as a whole. The message of oneness in a book where all of the poems are a part of one was not lost on me. There are, of course, standouts, my favorite being the clever Only As We and the intensely philosophical wordplay that reads, “try being two, and what would you do, if you were like me, and not the One you?” The tone is light-hearted but the verses themselves are weighty and I found myself frequently setting the book down to take in what I'd just read. Overall, this is a worthy collection that I think those who choose to pick it up will enjoy.

Well-chosen words convey all that is beautiful, ugly, and true about the human condition in The Lightness of Being, eloquently crafted by Paul J. Gorman. Gorman’s words convey emotionality without being emotional, love without being sappy, and insight without being “preachy.” Instead, he is profoundly aware of his defects as a human being and, by accepting and forgiving himself for his shortcomings, he has learned to love himself, expressing that love and awareness in his book of poetry. Universal questions asked by all of us form the foundation of “Meaning That Lives” – “What’s the point of being alive, what’s the purpose, why even try? Where’s the meaning in trying to survive, knowing I’m leaving but not why I arrived.” In “I’ll Love Being You”, Gorman asks, “Is the power of life to discern truth from illusion, the wheat from the chaff, wisdom from confusion?” while his words in “My Moment with You” remind us that our time on earth is finite when he asks, “What will be here in a thousand years? Will the sun still shine to dry all the tears? Will there still be rain to wash away the pain? Will the earth remain with nothing to gain?”

The Lightness of Being is rich with words that connote wisdom from years lived, mistakes made, and a life embraced. In “Always One in My Eyes”, the poet states, "The problem with the past the way it’s received is not what I did but in the way it’s perceived, through a harsher lens of right and wrong, what’s good and bad, weak and strong." Deeply spiritual, Paul J. Gorman’s book of poetry teaches the power of forgiveness and recognizing one’s flaws, evident in “All is Forgiven” and in “One and One Makes You.” He wants his audience not just to read his poetry, but to be drawn in by it and to feel the raw emotions conveyed by his words. Goodness, peace, love, forgiveness, and truth are not only the foundations for The Lightness of Being but are clearly the tenets by which Gorman lives. His is a body of work that’s evocative and invites his audience to let the words take them on a spiritual journey that’s pretty much impossible to resist.