Timothy Liu

Lyrical poet Robert Frost said, "Poetry is when emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words."
In reading lyric poetry, readers discover the emotion. Good lyrical poetry evokes feeling, ineffable emotion, sensual arousal. When a poem fails to do this, he creates mere words on paper.
In this collection of lyric poems, poet Timothy Liu presents many poems that drive right for the heart. Feeling and emotions rise from the words on paper. Poems are not read; they are experienced.
Because Of Thee I Sing collects many poems, some will not stir emotions. To me, some failed to have any meaning at all. Without meaning, there could be no emotional response.
As a whole, however, this tiny volume succeeds in inspiring emotion far more time than not.
The poems in the final section of the book held an emotional poignancy many of the earlier poems did not. Nonetheless, in each section of the book, Liu inspires readers to sense, feel, care, and recognize themselves being moved by words. These poems seem amazingly personal, both to the poet and to his readers, as if they were intimate friends reliving experiences.
In only nine lines, "Visiting My Mother's Grave" tells of a mother both mourned and resented, the one who gave us life and followed it with judgments.
On page 54, I found "Songs We Know But Cannot Sing, " followed by four strongly emotional and intensely personal poems. The poet and I connected through these lyrical pulls on the soul. Recognition, empathy, compassion, and understanding arise from these simple lines on paper. The power of words arouses the power of emotions.
This collection offers beauty and shame, love and indifference, pity and accusartion. It is a slice of life beautifully written.
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