LocalLit book review: the music of moving from darkness to light

‘Song of Sarahrose’ is a lyrical journey of personal growth and faith

"Song of Sarahrose" by Sarah Skandera of Lockport is a small collection of poetry that focuses on the joy of overcoming challenge's through faith in God.

An oft-repeated phrase in the creative writing “world” is “show, don’t tell.”

For this review, only lavish examples of “show” can really communicate just how lovely the “Song of Sarahrose” by Sarah Skandera of Lockport really is.

Here is its Amazon description: “Song of Sarahrose, a faith breathed spiritual experience! Poetry that embodies the thirst within us all, the courage to change, and the strength through God to never again fall. Her poetry takes us on a journey through the mind and heart of a broken woman. Calls she cried and clarity she found. A child raised by a twisted world, who found her life in Christ.”

The opening poem/prayer is simple but, like setting the GPS before leaving the driveway, gives the reader a clear idea of where this journey is heading.

May I see myself

The way that you see me

May I love myself

The way that you love me

May I live in the light

That you shine on me

May I touch someone else

The way you have touched me

In “Happy Birthday to Me,” the author shares how she was born, “So full of innocence, So full of life. There was hope in those big bright eyes, There was a beauty in her soul” and then she shares how, through years of neglect and abuse, she becomes a lonely adult, “with that little girl still in there, wishing somebody cared.”

But in “Wish I Knew,” the author takes full responsibility for the direction of her life and prays,

I close my eyes, and wish I knew

How to be, closer to you

How to let the pieces

Of my painful life go like in with the new

Out with the old

How do I forgive myself

For being a person of sin

Is it ever too late to let God in

Through poem after poem, Skandera shows the reader her pain, struggle to transcend her circumstances and mindset, desire to change and grow in holiness, the hopeful joy when glimpsing the Promised Land and the peace she attains in a growing relationship with God. And Skandera expresses each of these transitions with openess, honesty and eloquence.

In “Fortunate,” Skandera wrote:

I learned to be a vital part of my own solution

Trying to learn from Jesus’s words and perfection

Living in the peace of Your Holy protection

Oh how blessed could I be

I prayed for sight

Now clearly I see

A mighty oak has grown

From faith’s planted seed

The light is and always will be

Alive in me

I recommend “Song of Sarahrose” to anyone who has ever struggled.

Buy “Song of Sarahrose” on Amazon.

Know more about LocalLit

Each week LocalLit will deliver an original short and family-friendly story (or a book review) by a local author to the newsletter’s subscribers.

Local writers: Do you have a book you’d like me to review? A short story you’d like to share with LocalLit subscribers?

Please contact me at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.

Authors with a connection to our readership area may submit. Submission does not guarantee acceptance.

Subscribe to the free newsletter at shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/newsletter/#//.