A Journey of Finding the Light Through the Dark

Embark on a powerful journey of self-discovery with A Journey of Finding the Light Through the Dark. In this moving and introspective book, we follow a person’s path through the darkness as they struggle to find their way in a world filled with lies and deceit.

As they search for answers and meaning, they come to realize that the truth has always been there, hidden just beneath the surface. Along the way, they must confront their own fears and doubts and learn to let go of the past in order to embrace a brighter future.

Through this inspiring and heartfelt journey, readers will be uplifted and inspired to find their own light in the darkness. Whether you are searching for meaning in your own life or simply looking for a story of hope and redemption, A Journey of Finding the Light Through the Dark is a must-read.

The Sea of Stars Beneath Our Eyes

Beneath a sea of stars, a journey of love and heartbreak unfolds. This is a story of finding oneself amidst life’s challenges, where a path of flowers and thorns leads to self-discovery. These pages give voice to the unspoken feelings that battle within, revealing the beauty in every emotion. And through the healing scars, a path home finally emerges.

“At its birth and to its fall, we are all connected to each of them.” She pointed at the sky. “Do you know… we could find them in our eyes when they’re lost?” She paused and smiled. “For they are us and we are them.” She tilted her to the side.

The stars.

Suddenly, the whole sky breathed above her eyes. They sang and danced gracefully that it stole his breath away.

So ethereal.

They were as if—
A whole universe
Eagerly waiting with open arms
To welcome who she is becoming.

The Beauty of Words

Life experience has a unique way of inspiring words and thoughts. It allows us to revisit moments, trends, and milestones that shape who we are. The sights we’ve seen, the people we’ve met – these complete our inner selves. A lifetime of such memories can spill out into beautiful words.

From a special friendship to the birth of a child, or a love you never expected, these are the things that stir the heart and deserve to be written about. I hope to evoke genuine emotions in those who read my work. Writing wasn’t something I planned; it unfolded in a way that even I found surprising, revealing truths I didn’t know I had to share.

Within these pages are smiles and tears, crafted to make you think, reminisce on days gone by, or dream of what’s yet to come.

I do not seek to make history or gain fame. My words are simple, yet thoughtful, with meaning to uncover. So, enjoy the rhymes, reflect on the truths, and immerse yourself in the heartfelt works within.

For All Our Relations

The book is in two parts, the first, The Nilgiri Elegies, document my experiences as a veterinarian at the animal refuge in the Nilgiris, S. India, India Project for Animals & Nature, founded and directed by my wife Deanna L. Krantz. We provided free care for the domestic animals kept by villagers and poor tribal communities, vital to their economy and health; and faced corruption and death threats in saving the last of the elephants and other wildlife.

The second part are poems written over several years from the deep heart’s core of empathy and reverence for all life in a world in need of compassion and spiritual inspiration for all creatures great and small.

2024 In Poetry

This collection of poetry is anything but tedious. Accessible and lively, each poem invites readers with a friendly, approachable style, offering a reading experience that feels both effortless and deeply engaging. Without appearing complex or intimidating, these poems reveal layers of meaning beyond the words on the page, making it easy for readers to connect and find significance in each piece.

Featuring over 30 poems, this book offers an extra dimension that enhances its appeal, ensuring a rewarding experience for any poetry lover. Each verse is crafted with sharp poetic insight, bringing abstract ideas to life in just a few words. It’s a collection that promises no disappointments: only impressions that linger and truths that emerge as you read.

On the Wings of an Angel

These poems capture my 35-year love affair with my wife, Anna Mae, who recently passed away from stage three ovarian cancer. She loved me unconditionally, and in return, I endeavored to give her countless reasons to feel cherished. Anna Mae was my everything, and her loss has left me devastated. Witnessing her battle with the illness and undergoing chemotherapy inspired me to write and express my emotions. In these poems, I weave our life story, celebrating the decades we shared.

We first came together when I was just sixteen and spent twenty years together before tying the knot in 2007. I suppose I wanted to be absolutely certain she was the one for me - though, in hindsight, there was never any doubt. In 2000, we expanded our family by adopting five nieces and nephews, three girls and two boys, embarking on an extraordinary journey together. I always strived to bring happiness to my wife, embodying the essence of the quote, ‘It doesn’t take much to make a woman happy, but it takes even less to piss her off.’

In January 2023, Anna Mae succumbed to her battle with cancer. To my loving wife, now in heaven, these poems are for you. Thank you for joining me on this incredible ride.

An Old Lady’s Haiku with Cat

At this point in my life, I’m committed to my work, driven by a deep desire to communicate and explore the many mysteries around us. In a time when it’s more urgent than ever to care for nature and one another, I create not just to please, but to provoke – to gently pause others in their tracks, inviting them to experience the profound, the playful, and perhaps to leave a little bit changed.

My art and haiku often draw on mythology, religion, nature, and personal memories. In this way, I see myself as a storyteller, hoping to intrigue anyone who takes a moment to stop and look.

Hedonistic Propensities

From his darkest and most painful days to his bright and sunny days, this collection of poems embodies Issiac and the way he sees the world: painful and beautiful at the same time. 

Hedonistic Propensities takes a deeper look at what makes his soul shine. You can feel that he is most at home when he is writing.

This is Issiac’s first collection of poems, including the poems on his Instagram. He has been working on his craft.

Scribbles

Scribbles is a collection of poems written to express feelings that come with intense love, anger, betrayal, trauma, confusion, trust, and worry, and to help make sense of things. Its goal is to shine a light on some thoughts and feelings one may be having when experiencing the worry for a friend’s death, death of a lover, falling in love, or being betrayed, or being abused, trying to figure out one’s own mind, or feeling as though one has lost their mind. It is gritty and emotional, even lurid at times, but serves its purpose of letting out what cannot be contained.

Zion and Me

‘Zion’ is an imaginary place of peace, happiness, and victory. It has been my life’s ambition and pursuit. It has been a dream. An unattainable dream. Since Adam bit the poison apple in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been under a curse – to work at the sweat of his brow for his bread. This causes all of humanity to moan in existential pain. We long for meaning and for love.

Originally, ‘Zion’ was the hill in Jerusalem upon which Solomon built his temple. Zion since then, has come to mean the holy city. Zion is the party, should there ever be one after the defeat of evil in the apocalypse. To me, it is something to hope for, to strive for. However, as life’s problems obstruct the attainment of such a state, we begin to sink into complacency and misery. There’s poverty, heartbreak, and people who want to put you in a cage. After all that - you die.

Zion and Me is divided into three parts. ‘Haphazard Lines’ is mostly Biblical as I had recently converted to Christianity, and includes some speculation on the divine. ‘This Lovely Day’ is more secular and reflects again on life’s melancholia among other lessons to be learned. Finally, ‘Love Poems’ is self-explanatory and concerns various concepts related to love like longing and sadness. Zion and Me is an attempt to explain the ambiguity that goes with the necessity of discovering life’s secrets and to gain insight and wisdom.

Wolves with Furniture

Is the true nature of the human creature more akin to that of wolves or closer to bees or ants? What parts of the human soul are sacrificed by choosing a modern life in a crowded city-hive, an existence severed from the balance of Nature? Do wild wolves have a better sense of humanity than humans themselves?

These are only a few of the questions pondered in L.M. Reid’s poetry collection Wolves With Furniture, in which every intense poem is woven into the stories of Lupa the Wolf Queen and a vibrant girl born unlucky, who grows into a woman carrying within her the towering fury of a flame-haired Lilith.

Will she shatter herself against her own bitter rage, or choose to live a harmonious life guided by the just laws of the wolf? By turns poignant, thought-provoking and redemptive, Wolves With Furniture explores new depths of what it means to be human.

Winter Afternoon and Other Poems

The TV shows images of heads without bodies and babies wandering the streets all night... Just before sunrise, his blind eyes shine brighter than the sky, illuminated only by memory... The sudden, enveloping embrace of darkness is creamy in its softness, making you marvel at the world's perfection... Daring children to be young, sharing lunch with someone I once loved... Trust betrayed, messages relayed, bets hedged... Gracie lost herself again; her daughter found her in the basement with the photos... A bird twitters away the summers in a movie's belfry... Shriveled worse than a museum fetus drowning in formaldehyde... Pray the boy will learn to read before he learns to kill... The pizza guy slips a homeless man a few quarters... Moonlight bike rides along the river, conversations with the cat... If I touch the sky, how will I know... A glimpse of heaven through the kitchen window... Because no one can speak the sacred word, and no one knows more than they should...

What the "#x@+" is he 'saying'? ... Read on!