“The present/ Is ever/ The willingness/ Of wonder.” Poetry is words by which one can live, words that speak volumes in its reflective stance, whether rhyming verse or spartan free verse. Poetry speaks of life at its deepest and most profound eloquence. A peaceful waterfront scene, on the verge of twilight, can cause one to reflect on its beauty, but a poet will see beyond the visual and create a stimulating painting with words.

Poet Gary W. Burns’ newest collection of poetry, Twilight: Awaking the Stars: Poems of the Night’s Light, sheds light, quite literally, on the intensity of this end-of-the-day vision of loveliness. In mostly short poems, free verse and intense, the poet shares his vision of life and the art of living, as reflected by the light of the dying day, though the day isn’t really dying, but shedding its brilliance into another form of beauty. His collection of poems is reflective, pensive, thought-provoking – profound in its simplicity and pure eloquence of spartan words.

His short, brilliant gems are full of metaphors and similes and hidden innuendoes. In one poem, he ponders the ethereal quality of time itself: “The march of time/ Made quick step/ From then till now/ And the turn of events/ Made no mention/ Of how.” And later he sums up the complexity of his simple thoughts in a poem called “Poetry”: “Stars/ In a universe/ Of sky/ And you/ And me:/ Living poetry.” In another poem called “Understanding,” he writes: “I came/ To understand/ I’d received/ By giving/ And grew/ By living.” The poems are accompanied by a selection of photographs and images that add to the soothing collection of poetry. A book meant for the reader to enjoy and reflect upon many times over.

“As the sun spun its spinning way to be the light of someone else’s day.” Twilight: Awaking the Stars is a collection of poetry by Gary W. Burns with a soothing and relaxing vibe. Described by Burns as a “peaceful harbor” and “meditative and calming”, Twilight: Awaking the Stars accomplishes exactly what it promises. With an array of around 70 poems, this is a collection that you can enjoy day after day. The tranquil presence of this collection of poetry is the perfect addition to your life and your nightstand. Divided into 5 sections, Twilight, Lamplight, Into the Night, Starlit, and Night to Twilight to Blue, the works of Gary W. Burns seem to transition in a way that makes them even more impactful.

I applaud author Gary W. Burns for his work on Twilight: Awaking the Stars, clearly an experienced and passionate poet. I was very pleased at the overall atmosphere of the book and how accurately it was depicted in the description. It is not every day that a poem has the power to soothe and inspire. With quotes such as “your eyes filled with Love’s light, through the dark night” from one poem entitled Mi Amor, you can see a glimpse of the beauty that has inspired Burns in his work. Burns travels around the world and his studies in philosophy and psychology have undoubtedly given him a unique and beautiful perspective on life. Overall, an excellent collection of poetry, well done.

Twilight: Awaking the Stars, Poems of the Night's Light by Gary W. Burns is a collection of sixty-seven short poems focused on a theme of light. Divided into sections titled Twilight, Lamplight, Into the Night, Starlit, and Night to Twilight to Blue, the poems deftly evoke a variety of emotions and thoughts. Sometimes rhymed, sometimes haiku-esque in style, they touch on the wonder of the natural world, on love and romance, on hope and faith, on life and death, on the momentary and on the eternal. The words are comforting and soothing in tone. They reassure us. There is also a passion for life behind them. They take us beyond ourselves to the eternal as well as inside our deepest thoughts. A few illustrations add to the imagery.

I enjoyed Twilight. Burns has a wonderful way of using words to create a bond with the reader. There is a familiarity with what he shares with us. We’ve seen many of the same things and felt many of the same feelings. Reading about them is like revisiting a beautiful spot in the woods where we were captivated watching a butterfly by day and gazing at the Milky Way by night. It’s good to think of those times and to remember how calm and at ease they made us feel; how at home in the natural world. The poems express a philosophy that is universal: a wonder, a calm, a serenity. “The wind blows/And the chimes chime/Life is a miracle/And death is too/The give and take/Of me and you.” This collection is suitable as a gift as well as for personal reflection.

Gary W. Burns's inspirational poetry collection, Twilight: Awaking the Stars, contains a driving voice that focuses on what hovers above us, around us, as well as what dwells within each one of us as human beings. In 104 pages, he is able to create an environment that we can understand and reflect on; the nighttime with its dark skies and shadows, and how it evokes a certain type of mindset. A few of my favorite lines can be found on page 36 within the poem, “Go Slow.” “I’ve run through/lots of nights/That didn’t know/slow.” The idea that the night itself is a living creature, able to establish thought, really made me more presently aware of the life of the night.

Twilight: Awaking the Stars by Gary W. Burns enveloped me completely. It took me back to a time in my life as a teenager, when I sailed under a night sky for six days on the sea. The beauty in that darkness and the silver shine of the stars have always stayed with me. Several drawings are present and add an extra layer of depth with their inky black forms. The poems in Gary W. Burns Twilight: Awaking the Stars are a journey. A voyage into black nights that consume your being. Each poem is quick like a breath but makes you at that moment more aware of what is taking place, reminding us of the brevity of time and the brevity that is life. I completely recommend Gary W. Burns Twilight: Awaking the Stars for the voyager who is inside each and every one of us.