Erosion of the heart was the best poetry book I have read this year. Furthermore, I should add here that I scarcely recall any poetry book to which I was attached the way I was attached to this one. I felt for the poetess here since the very first verse, for every poem was a powerful expression of a deep human emotion. As an admirer of poets, and as an avid reader of poetry, I have found every human emotion in this book fascinating. The poetess’s broken heart exhilarated me throughout the entire collection so that everything associated with the physical appearance of the book has simply faded away. Because of the tremendous exciting mood I was mindless about the untitled poems, heedless of the punctuations. For me the messages, the love, the thrill, the emotions, and the moods, made me forget about the reality in which I lived. Often it felt as if I was drowning in a whirlwind of love. The chief message was love, and although the reflection of a broken heart derives from a personal love, there are clear indications as for the fact that the poetess is a divine messenger, spiritual, not religious, and that universal love is her highest law. I wish to stress here that I have never before in my life enjoyed reading poems of self pity. Here, both the projection, and the emanation, of self pity were pure, chaste, honest, and aesthetic. It was the honesty and sincerity of the fragile soul within the poems that filled with deep emotions. Her tears rendered me cathartic as a reader. Thus, I have found myself rapt in the catharsis of love. But there was more to this collection than love, heart break, melancholy, self pity, and even romance. What I loved about the poems in this collection was the discovery of the hidden messages. I truly felt like I struck gold here, not only in regard to art and beauty, but chiefly because the messages were, in fact, of a cosmic proportion, and of a high value. However, this goldmine was so rich in minerals, that it would have truly taken me months to analyze it all. Therefore I have focused on the big nuggets and tried to remain brief in my analysis. I should mention here before I elaborate on some of the poems, that it has been equally pleasurable for me to analyze the poems as it was for me to read them. Poem 2 renders the poetess emphatic and resolute in her messages. Here I loved the emphasis on verses in her style, as later it is related to the `Ocean style’ as I analyze it, which is her wonderful idiosyncratic diction. The didactic style here, however, is overwhelmed by the punch line. I think that it is very risky for a poet to use didacticism in general, because a poet might risk losing the attention of the reader, or to digress from the point. But here the poetess brilliantly mastered didacticism and used it for her final punch line. A fact which rendered the reader extremely satisfied. Such an orgasmic style renders the poetess a high class artist, because of her final conclusion in each poem. I did not even find one flaw in this collection, as the poetess overpowered every single poem with great strength and faculty. I could only identify with the person whom she loved as a person who would be naturally intimidated by her magnificent energy. As a reader I admire her intense loving energy, but such intensity could be related to the fact that the unknown person was spooked away, leaving the poetess with a broken heart. The same success in the didactic style she achieved in poem 7, here with a different poem structure, a fact which add to her eclectic style. In poem 8 I was rendered with a deep emotion of hollowness. It was the void, and here I was really sucked into the sense of being out of time, or out of consciousness, which is an indication as for the poetess’s link to the divine realms. Her metaphysical reality has been expressed also in other poems, but here the porcelain doll was the perfect emissary of the sense of void. It did not take me long to infer that the poetess here is a humanist, drunk on the wine of Carpe Diem and divine knowledge. Her ethical perspective in this book is expressed both through emotions, but also through her divine messages. As I progressed with an insatiable curiosity, for every poem was a gem of emotion, I was struck by the mystery of poem 15. Here I had to stop and marvel upon the riddle of innocence. The poetess was on the ground, enjoying the lavender petals falling on her face, with a wonderful scent, but then the poetess posed a question. Thereupon her calls for the destruction of the beautiful flower implied as for the loss of her innocence. However, the posed question is brilliant, because the loss of innocence, means in fact that another innocence is gained, perhaps the innocence of contentment, and or of an attainment of something grand; a sort of realization, which lead to another level of innocence, or to a higher level of consciousness. The flower is also analogous to the male sexual organ. Thus, when the poetess expresses a call to pull it apart, there is a strong indication as for a feminist connotation. Thus, this poem could also be interpreted as rebellious against the intrusive power of men. Poem 16 was extremely apocalyptic, as the end suggests that the extinction of humankind was not the poetess’s fault. The last line suggests once more, that the poetess cares very much for the earth, and that she is trying to save mankind through her art and poetry. But sadly, mankind’s apathy and self destructive nature make people ignorant of her mission, thus she shakes off the dust from her sandals and resume to her divine occupation. I was really touched by this poem, as I fear that the poetess is right in her assertions of the facts. Thus, the poetess so far is also rendered apocalyptic, rebellious, feminist, humanist, moralist, powerful, virile, cathartic, orgasmic, divine, and melancholy. Her heart eroded, and so did the heart of the moralist reader. I was melting with emotions of care, love, and compassion in most of the poems. There was also a sense of motion and eventuality in the poems, and I do not recall even one stagnant poem. All the poems were in uniform motion, a fact which contributed to her love for the earth. In poem 21 I was affected by the mood of the poetess, as she was dominated. Her loss of control to another person meant that she was melting with an intense, perhaps even obsessive, love. Thus, stricken by love she is overwhelmed, and here control means that she surrenders to love. Thus, she is an exponent of love. Her big heart, together with all of her dominance and power, is not sufficient, for love is her conqueror. Poem 31 was brilliantly constructed as here the suspense of the reason and the event captures the reader’s curiosity all the way to the punch line. There is a conclusion embedded with many reasons, but the reader is powerless and cannot break free from the grip of the poetess. One has to know what the poem is all about, from the very first word to the last, the reader is simply captivated. Poem 36, which is my favorite poem in this collection, left me melting rapt on the abstraction of the circle of life. In poem 37 the warning against love is ambivalent. The ethereal dialogue which is implied through the words `my child’ suggests that love is self destructive. Thus, the poetess is conveyed with a message to be careful not to destroy herself with her love and obsession. The same warning is implied later on in poem 56. But in poem 37 I could not help thinking about the male and the female conjunction. As here the female, the poetess, is analogous to love, and her beloved male is analogous to her victim. Subsequent poems expressed compassion, deep regret, deep love, and rendered the poetess a loyal subject of the divine realm. Her high values and set of moral virtues are imparted through her strong emotions. Thus, as for her characteristics, she is also emotive and intuitive a poetess. Her infatuation with her former lover conceals, and perhaps even sidetracks, the reader from her divine contract, which is to evolve through art, and to lead mankind into the transformation into a higher level of consciousness. In that sense the poetess is an evolutionist, though definitely not a Darwinist, as later poems may suggest. Moreover, her sensitive approach towards life and her delicate perspective are all sophistically attractive to the humanist reader. Poem 49 intrigued me also in event and in the allusion to the illusion of our physical reality. In many of her poems she is aware of the essence of naïve realism, and as for the illusion of our mundane existence, that all she asks is for some motion, excitement, and entertainment. Motion is life. Thus, she wishes to enjoy life and not encounter with spiritual death. In that sense she is a poetess subversive of vanity, as she is an emissary of the light in the spiritual sense, through art, not through religion. The poetess is a feeler, but she forces the reader to become a thinker, and such a wonderful attainment suggests that she is a catalyst, a revolutionary, a transformer, and a reformer of human society. In other words, she is a pathfinder and a shepherdess, as art is her God, and creativity is her holy path. In my view, the most genius poem in this intriguing collection is poem number 50. Here the poetess, regardless whether it was written intuitively or subconsciously, in fact, exposes the paradox of existence, which is still hidden from contemporary mankind. The first stanza was so powerful in message that I was overwhelmed but the assertion of `I am your salvation’. The poetess is a redeemer of mankind. Salvation can only come from human evolution, hence from art, from love, and from peace. Moreover, the divine intervention is in fact the intervention of artists on earth. The call here is therefore to delve and look deep inside our inner world, wherein salvation resides, as God, not a religious God, but rather an artistic one, is within us all. The third dimension, between heaven and hell, is the earth. Hence the poetess here is analogous to both Mother Earth, in the physical sense, and to equality in relation to salvation. As a reader I could really feel that this divine poem was spoken by an angel. Add celestial and angelic to the poetess’s list of traits and characteristics, all which make this collection extremely powerful in message. Here, in poem 50 the message `I’m the only one who’ll ever love you’, refers to the child of the earth. The speaker is a divine force, a divine entity, God as an artist. Hence it is a call to return to the source of creation at heart, but in the spiritual definition, as the source of all creation is an artist, a creator, and not a far fetched religious God. The second stanza in poem 52 was somewhat humoristic, as here the absurd of what one gets from love reaffirms the waning which appeared in other poems, that love is a black hole and a destructive force that needs to be heeded. Poem 56 impressed me with its punch lines. Such quotes truly suggest that love is also a source of melancholy and depression, despite of all its majesty and power. In poems 61 and 62 the reader gets the feeling of despair. The cry of the artist here reminds me of the cry of the ancient prophets in the bible, when they had to deliver divine messages to mankind, but the rabble were too ignorant and oblivious to the truth, and therefore the prophets were ignored. The artist in general and the poet in particular, is the true emissary of the light. The poet is the bearer of the divine spark and the translator of the divine inspiration. In adverse to the priest, who is chosen by a human society, an artist is chosen by the divine order. Thus, I could really feel the pain of the poetess here, as she was not appreciated by her generation yet. It is the pangs of the divine messenger from which she suffers, but because there is no recognition of divine needs in a human society that she feels neglected, betrayed, ignored, and without remedy. These two poems are subversive of human being’s slow level of evolution. Poem 65 caught my attention, as artists use so much positive energy that they need to give vent to their energy also in another way. The poetess do not advocate for video games for the sake of vanity, for she merely uses video games to offset the balance and recharge her divine energy. The video games are the equilibrator, thus, the modern world can help the poetess to transmute feelings and restore energy. Some other authors, poets, and artists use other equilibrators such as gambling, alcohol, and even drugs, etc. Hence, the choice of the poetess here is rather mild in comparison with Poe, for example. It is a fact that without equilibrium artists experience deficient energy, depressions, and even blockage. Salvation can only come with the help of its opposite, which is vanity. Poem 66 was very powerful. Here the loss of memories, or rather the role of memories, is questioned because of the afflicted pain which is associated with them; an indication of despair and signs of melancholy and depressions associated with a broken heart. All because of love, yet love is never antagonized, even though there are warnings against the effects and destructions that are the consequences of love. In poem 69 I was fascinated by the notion of time and by the emotion of the void. The link to the divine realm, the sense of out of time, and the sense of emptiness occupied my mind here profoundly. Poem 72 was subversive of human oppressions, when the last stanza, constructed with irony, served criticism against the madness of tyrants. In poem 74 I was contemplating about naïve realism, particularly in the first stanza, as it voices the doubt of the poetess in regard to the reality around her. The last line, though may seem pessimistic, could also refer to a simple recognition that in the end we all die, and/or that the void is always out there to consume us. Hence, this poem is a reminder of the end, which is a return to non existence. I really felt for the poetess in poem 77 as it is a poem that reminds the reader about the lack of equality and fairness in society. In a way this poem calls for a change of such a fact, and for the restoration of equality. Everyone should be appreciated for their contribution on earth, not only the strong, rich, and or famous. There should be no social classes and no discrimination. Equality means that every poet and poetess should be able to feel happy, not only the chosen poets of society. Her recognition, however, in my view, based on her merits, should, paradoxically, be prioritized, because of her leading role in moral virtue. To support such a preference, it is better for a society that a healer sits in position of power rather than a shoe maker, even though they are equally worth as human beings. Thus, her frustration here is justified and understood, as others (heroes of vanity) are feasting on her harvest. She has a lot to give to the world but her spiritual gift is ignored because of the lack of evolution, and because of the rotten spirit of the age. In poem 80 there is an expression of a natural anticipation for the harvest. Here I was honored to intellectually gorge on her delicious poems. The most aesthetic and beautiful poem in this book, in my view, was poem 84, which is the poem about the willow. Here it felt as if the tree was humanized, which is a veracious symbolism, because there is something unusually magical and human about willows. In poem 85 I was impressed with the novel structure of the poem. It was incredibly artistic and unusual. Poem 87 was advocating for the salvation of the human spirit. Here there is a warning not to join the mainstream, but to remain faithful to one’s own spiritual gift and to uphold one’s own divine contract. It is a warning issued to all, so that individualism will be preserved and not fade away by the destructive madness of the collective. Hence, it is a poem that calls for the preservation of chastity and divine law. Poem 89 was brilliant in its style, as here the reader feels the ebb and flow through the repeating lines, as if the readers are surging back and forth like ebb and flow in the great currents of the sea. In the first two stanzas the first line, and the final line, of each stanza is `Cast away into the sea’ it means that the poem begins with a flow, then it reaches the reader, which stands on the shoreline, until the poetess command the reader to cast it back into the sea. It was brilliantly constructed. The third stanza, in adverse to the first two, breaks this pattern, but such a break of pattern is encouraged by the poetess, as she concludes the matter by asserting that the end of the matter is when the waves wash away sadness and agony. Here the message was compatible with the style of the poem and with the emotion that was conveyed through the rhythm of the sea. This poem, hence, was of a genius type. The first stanza of poem 94 reminded me about the Garden of Eden. Here petals, which appeared also in poem 15, are once more associated with innocence and sin. However, the last stanza of poem 94 is remarkable, as here the divine messenger, dares to ask the ultimate question. Fulfilling the mission on earth, complying with the divine contract, and following the spiritual gift, are the things which occupy the minds of the divine artist constantly. The adherence to the divine order, is disputably insufficient, hence, the poetess wishes to know about her progress pertaining the spiritual evolution. Poem 95 only solidifies the reader’s suspicion that the poetess is an emissary of the light. Here, her quest for salvation, and her feeling of incompletion, as she stresses that heaven is only a stone throw away, indicates that she is determined to save the earth from destruction. Thus, her task is, first, to save mankind from madness and from destruction. Her chief message is universal love, unity, and morality. However, because of her frustration that mankind is not aware yet of her grand mission on earth, it happens that she feels that she can’t stop the madness of mankind, and hence, inexplicably, she appeals for a divine intervention. Though she knows that only through mankind’s self realization that salvation will come, still, she is longing to return to heaven, or alternately, that heaven will reign on earth. It is a natural quest by a divine poet. Poem 97 alerted me as for the madness of modern society, which is trying to solve the pain of a broken heart with chemical pills. The poetess here criticizes society, and the reader identify with her that a broken heart cannot be mended with vain solutions. Hence, this is also a poem that advocates for reason, logic, and compassion, all of which are extinct among the leaders of a modern human society. Poem 103, like many other poems, contains the symbol of the sea. However, here the heroine is drowning beneath crushing waves of apathy, which means that apathy is her weakness point and her adversary. Apathy of others towards her sufferings and pain is the source of her depression. Here the same apathy is criticized, for mankind is pathetic towards the earth. Mother earth is destroyed, but because of the apathy of mankind, the earth cannot heal. Hence, this poem is equally subversive of apathy as it is calling for human/moral intervention. In a way it is a wake up call to save the earth from destruction. The sea is the source of all emotions, hence the water element which appears throughout the entire book; tears are analogous to rain, and waves and sea are analogues to actions and emotions, all point at the direction that the poetess deserves the additional epithets of , `Shannon McRoberts, an Aquarian poetess’ and `Shannon McRoberts, a poetess in the lead’. I enjoyed the paradox of the `waves of apathy`, in regard to a human emotion, but also because of the contrast of motion vs. motionless. The waves appear once again in poems 105 and 107. In poem 105 the poetess settles with her fall into depression and subsequently into madness. But madness, just like loneliness, is not the dream of the poetess. Her dream is to dwell in love, peace, and harmony. Her dream is of perfect balance and perfect life. She is the bearer of salvation, thus, when she falls into despair, or drown under the waves of apathy, or settle down with madness and loneliness, in fact, she is crying for help. Her pain is deep, like the sea; therefore sinking into a depression is the outcome of a broken heart. She feels betrayed, because there is no one that can really understand or relate to the pangs of a divine messenger. Her pain is a mystery to others because of her high level of consciousness. Poem 110 moved me deeply, for here I felt the pain of the poetess who was in her divine maturity. She is still in the growth of her mission, but she longs for the end of it. The divine fruit longs for the harvest, but the harvest is far away, and the pickers are gone. The journey of the poetess in this poem is a reminder that her divine ministry could save the earth, only if people were wise enough, or kind enough, to know her and feel her. Her divine need for spiritual evolution is deprived because of mankind’s apathy and ignorance. Nevertheless, despite of all her misery, the poetess is a redeemer owing to her adherence to the divine principle of creativity; a principle which is not yet reciprocated. The second stanza of poem 114, apart from the nice rhymes, was very powerful in the assertion of the poetess’s strong love for the earth. Hence, she is an altruist by faith, by words, and by deeds, a fact which can clarify the source of her pain. Moreover, the dialogue in the last verse of the poem reintroduces the angelic channel of communication, however, it reapers here as a reason for the poetess’s deep love. In poem 116 the poetess, who is a messenger of love, try to convince her adversary that love is the way, not hate. Thus, she mentions a higher messenger of love, because her adversary, or companion, refuses to believe her that love is the way. I’d therefore conclude that the poetess is chaste, pious, moral, and spiritual, but not religious as some readers could misconstrue. In poem 120 the book is analogous to the poetess’s heart, as she set it free. By thus she finds catharsis. The book, however, also could imply as for her mission on earth. When she sets the book free she imparts the divine knowledge through human emotions. Her broken heart is the price which she paid for the salvation of the earth. The message of love is healing, amending, repairing, for only through love mankind can heal itself, and subsequently heal the earth. The poetess accomplished a divine errand, thus, from her sea of compassion she released a book through the waves of love. Poem of 122 only confirms her good intentions and good heart as she pray for salvation. Universal love is projected through her altruism in this book. What a pleasure that it was for me to read and analyze these poems. I recommend this book to all avid readers of poetry, hence both for thinkers and feelers of poetry devotees. Shannon McRoberts is not only a talented artist, and not only a divine poetess, she is also a healer and a savior.