Vagabond Dawns
By Carolyn Mary Kleefeld
Prologue by Bernfried Nugel
Cross-Cultural Communications, 2009
Softbound, 140 pages, CD included, $20.
Poet and artist Carolyn Mary Kleefeld’s latest poetry book, Vagabond Dawns, is a cause for celebration, as this may be her most sublime collection to date. Vagabond Dawns contains 112 of Ms. Kleefeld’s poems, which radiate profound spiritual wisdom, and touch upon such universal themes as love, nature, intimacy, and Taoist acceptance. Imaginative and metaphysically insightful, Ms. Kleefeld’s poems delve into the divine mystery of existence. They uniquely express the soul’s journeys through darkness and light, and seek to understand how the grand cycles of nature relate to psychological and interpersonal dynamics.
This inspiring new book includes a CD of Ms. Kleefeld reading fifteen selected poems, with musical accompaniment by Barry and Shelley Phillips, who have also played for Coleman Barks in his readings of Rumi. The blend of poetry and music is trance-inducing, adding much dimension and depth to her heartfelt words, which hold the shamanic power to evoke mystical experiences. A full-color reproduction of Ms. Kleefeld’s painting Gypsy Dream also appears in the book, and her painting Izabella the Polish Gypsy graces the cover. Poet and artist David Wayne Dunn wrote a passionate Foreword, and Dr. Bernfried Nugel, the director for the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies at the University of Münster, added a perceptive Prologue.
Ms. Kleefeld is the author of ten books, which showcase her award-winning poetry, prose, paintings, and drawings in various complementary combinations. She has a remarkable talent for elegantly conveying profound psychological and spiritual truths in poetic verse. As Dr. Bernfried Nugel states in his Prologue, “…the all-encompassing vigor of Kleefeld’s individual style not only alludes to outstanding representatives of the poetic tradition, such as Rimbaud, Pound, Eliot, Lawrence, Kazantzakis, and others, but rather incorporates them into ‘poetic tapestries’ of her own.”
I read the treasured verses in Vagabond Dawns over and over. This is the work of a time-honed master, at the height of her creative powers, who has an abundance of jeweled revelations to share. These powerful and evocative verses have become my cherished companions, echoing the whispers of nature and illuminating the path toward spiritual transcendence. Ms. Kleefeld has a rare gift for expressing the ineffable. She is a supreme alchemist, supernaturally spinning together lyrical rhythms and lost archetypal wisdom, which have the potential to lead readers toward profound insights into themselves, the human condition, and the world.
