"Erstwhile Orbits & Newformed Spheres is a collection of autobiographical poems composed by Umohowet Taushi Yelayu. Chronological and ordered by periods of life, it begins with youthful poems of ardent first-love and discovery. Before long, there is a shift to airy philosophy and the heavy esoteric, as life lessons and experiences slowly remove the rose-colored lenses. Emotional breakdowns and regroupings overtake the focus, leading to a renewed and blazing confidence, even if fault lines still rumble. Then, a diagnosis of mental illness followed by the desire for authenticity and true healing change the course of things once more. Here are powerful relationships as well as the deconstruction of those bonds; the development of strong religious beliefs and the painful losses of faith; transcendental philosophical brushstrokes and metaphysical pondering; declarations of personal strength and expressions of profound weakness. There is fragility & fortitude. Vulnerability, fear, anguish, melancholy, and misery. Power, courage, vigor, contentment. The result is a wholly human portrait."Pastel and Shell" discusses the dangers of giving oneself to others without reciprocity and "Your Palace In My Earth" expresses blind headfirst love. "The Prophet's Spice Truck" details a quasi-obsessive one-way-street friendship, while "Chinatown" paints the hopelessness of disillusioned youth. "Self-Righteous" sees an almost manic pride devolve into fetal desperation, as "The Naked God" is a request from a disciple begging to see a clearer sign of his Lord. "For Certain" is the doubt about everything that we all have in our quietest moments, and "Kinetic Slavery: Love As Religion" is a wild, Mephistophelean piece about the depths of depression. "Suihallawuiyou (or the Girl at Ota'lu'kume)", is an art piece that uses the Delphic, the mystical, and the arcane to weave an experience. "To Witness Totality" and "The Merkabah of Modernity" express the search for healing, wholeness, and freedom. The closing pieces "The Long-Haul of Survival", "I Name Myself", and "The New Orbit" are almost matter-of-fact in their commitment to finding joy, fullness, and alignment with purpose.These are pieces to be digested and, at the end of the collection, you will gain an insight into another's experiences which will reflect back to your own. This is no attempt at braggadocio, nor is it a pity-fest. It is an expression of the wholeness of life."
