In Search of Water: A Poetry Chapbook

By Lisa Gilley

As the 1965 popular song by Hall David and Burt Bacharach tells us, "what the world needs now, is love, sweet love." This collection of poems explores love in different forms, including romantic love, but it also celebrates the love of a pet, for a co-worker, a neighbor, a family of strangers one has never met, and the sentimental love of a beloved place from the past. Sometimes we don't realize how much we cared until we feel the loss of someone or something.

The collection begins with a sense of longing, hope, and fear of the uncertainty surrounding the finding of love and processing mistakes made with past love. It continues with poems celebrating newfound love and then expressing that love. It ends with other experiences of love and loss. Water is a recurring theme in many of the poems.

The final poem is written for the shutterbugs out there, always the one behind the camera at events with friends and family. The author found an old family photo of her young parents, her childhood self with her younger brother, and her then teenaged cousin, and realized she had no idea who had taken that photograph. No one remembered who else was there in the room holding the camera and preserving that precious memory. The poem expresses a moment of sadness in not knowing.

Love is healing. Love is kind. Love is forgiving. Love is hopeful. Love doesn't give up at the first sign of trouble. This world needs more love and less hate. Human beings are not perfect, but as long as we are alive and remain open to reflect on our mistakes and grow, we will continue to learn to love others better.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FBK67N6S
• ISBN13: 9798285935216
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 44 Pages
• Weight: 0.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"