There is an old saying that the only things certain in life are death and taxes. Paul J. Gorman can’t help you with your taxes, but he can help with your grieving. In Infinite Healing: Poems and Messages for the Loss of a Loved One, Paul shares poems and sayings that can be a great source of comfort for anyone who is grieving. It is obvious that Paul has gone through the grieving process—maybe more than once. One of the main things someone grieving needs is to know that others have felt the same pain. Remembering that your loved one continues on in some form or fashion is comforting. Also, knowing that your loved one is totally healed helps you heal. Reading the poems will both comfort and encouragement you.

Paul writes poetry in the traditional manner. The theme of this book is grief. Even though it is never invited, grief makes a visit to every home. We cannot bargain away death. Paul J. Gorman shares your pain as you go through the long dark night of grieving. I personally liked his poems much more than his short messages. These short messages are where Paul’s mysticism is best seen. Paul is a mystic and spiritual leader. He brings spirituality into the process of grieving. Bringing the spiritual into the healing process is essential to move on with life. Death and grieving are exceedingly difficult topics to discuss. However, Paul navigates through these complex discussions by using poetry to express the pain. Infinite Healing is an excellent book to read as you go through the pain of grief and for you to give to a friend who is grieving.

There is only one sure thing in life and that is we will all die sometime. Paul Gorman’s chapbook, Infinite Healing: Poems and Messages for the Loss of a Loved One, is a soulfully enchanting and uplifting collection of thoughts such as “Death has come/ when unexpected/ nothing can be done/ life is unprotected.” Is it easier for the loved one who dies, or for the loved one left behind to grieve? Perhaps we’ll never know, but there is comfort in knowing that we are never alone in our feelings, even when we experience the worst degree of grief possible. It’s difficult to accept that loved ones are still with us, even after death: “life took you away/ you’re still in my heart/ where you will always stay.” And yet we grieve as we also rejoice in a life well lived even if it was cut short.

The poems and messages in Infinite Healing were written by Paul Gorman to help the reader on the healing journey that one must undertake after the loss of a loved one. Each poem reads like a complete sentence, but it’s broken into four-line stanzas, all in rhyming verse and very cleverly constructed. After a selection of poems, there are profound reflections on Oneness and how the continuum of life and life after death moves forward: “Healing in life means half healing in life in time, and half-healed in losing life, or in timelessness.” The poet explores the overwhelming range of emotions that afflict the mourner: shock, anger, sadness, overwhelming and sometimes crippling grief, and compassion. This is a compassionate reflection of life, love, and moving forward and beyond the confines of life itself. There is hope after loss, a concept aptly presented with the lovely cover illustration showing a butterfly.

The loss of a loved one is painful, so we may be afraid to express our feelings or not feel understood by those around us, but this book perfectly expresses the emotions in a calm and empathic way, with words aimed at the purpose of finding relief. Infinite Healing is a compilation of poems that talks about loneliness and the beauty of life. Paul Gorman's words are a consolation in the face of feelings of anger and depression over a situation that involves a loss. The ideas reflected here value the memories of when that loved one was with you and at the same time encourage you to continue along the path of life, overcoming obstacles.

This collection of poems gives a sense of freedom. I felt the connection with those beautiful thoughts commented on by Paul Gorman. I found Infinite Healing to be a very enjoyable and uplifting read; its words made me look back in a positive way. The poems have a restorative effect, stimulating an understanding with the part of oneself that is willing to reflect and move forward through life but without forgetting those beautiful moments with the person who is no longer with us. It is possible that in a situation like this we think that if we could just talk to the person one more time, it would dull the pain a little. That is why returning to reality is painful, but knowing that we are not alone and that we are truly known is a great help.

Paul Gorman’s poetry collection, Infinite Healing: Poems and Messages for the Loss of a Loved One, explores the meditative power of language as it decodes the riddles of nature, the self, and the unknown. The opening poem, I’ll Be at Peace, is representative of the anthology’s core theme, inspiring deep introspection about shock, grief, sadness, and sorrow as the result of a death that comes too soon. In this collection, the poet creates a solid pathway toward healing by expressing the thoughts that need to be written to gain release from the pain brought about by things beyond human control. It is an internal method of dialectic with a sound, uniform structure mostly written in an explicit first person.

Paul Gorman has written intimate conversations about life and death with himself and given the consistency of his rhyme and voice in these poems. They take on the form of strong intrapersonal awareness that leads to wisdom. These poems provide some relief as the poet’s point of view exudes a strong spiritual voice. Most of Gorman’s poems also rely on abstract ideas to convey life and death. One such example is the poem I Wish You’d Have Stayed, in which a broken body is largely representative of both the deceased and the one left behind to suffer the toll of grief. The book is also interspersed with questions and answers about God, existence, and what happens afterward, where the answers will give you some profound thoughts to ponder. Throughout, Infinite Healing explores a consciousness in figurative language and abstractions that invite you to step into a world of meditation, acceptance, and healing.