Birth Certificate

<p>Birth and being mark the poems in this second collection by philosopher John Valentine who meditates on the nature of humanity and existence.</p><p></p><p>Each verse is a metaphysical musing an inquiry without an I and a dialogue in silence.</p><p></p><p>Contemplating our ever-entwined virtues and vices <em>Birth Certificate</em> dwells on the divine and tragic the spirited and frail to create an image of the ideal -- an ephemeral mandala offering order amid displacement in the sea of beings -- only to be swept away with the breath and water of time.</p>