Musings in the UK

Sometimes we hear a quote attributed to St Irenaeus: "Theglory of God is man fully alive" which leaves out the secondpart: "and the life of man consists in beholding God."It is this full quote that I would apply to Benjamin Garba Usakule'svolume of poems entitled Musings in the UK because, throughhis poems, he sees everything -from Creation, as in his delightfuldescription of a busy bee, to wider social issues - through the lensof a life rooted in God. He himself confirms this in his openingacknowledgement: "I would like to thank God, the source of allinspiration, for guiding my thoughts and sparking my creativitythroughout the creation of this collection of poetry."The poems range from deeply thoughtful to light and humorous, suchas the observant and very logical Of Irregular English Verbs, pokingfun at the English language; but the light of God's love animates eachone, even those tackling troubling topics as in Migrants.Barbara Reed MasonCatholic Author and Catechist