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Messages to Me: Words Collected on the Road to Silence
by Margaret (Meg) Coyle Irsay (Illustrator: Ray Takuji Sato)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: One Body Books (2007-01-02)
ISBN: 0978946804
EAN: 9780978946807
Hardcover: 125 pages
Edition: 1st
Release Date: 2007-01-30
SKU: 08060030
Condition: Like New Like New
Comments: Hardcover. Like new cover and text. Like new dust jacket with very minor shelfwear. Near Fine condition. Beautiful book.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
In her first published collection, Margaret Coyle Irsay combines her written poems with beautiful photographic images of these same poems expressed through movement. Together they form an artifact of her ongoing intention to live consciously and witness for Love in the world. Exquisitely produced, this book is a hand engraved invitation to join her in the dance of Love without conditions.
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Customer Reviews
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The result is a celebration of life, love, and physical as well as a cerebral expression.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-01-08
Words Collected on the Road to Silence: Messages to Me is a unique anthology of free-verse poetry and prose passages, combining author Margaret Coyle's prayers with stunning, full-color photography of her dance performed in tune with the poetry's meaning. The result is a celebration of life, love, and physical as well as a cerebral expression. "Messages to Me": A feeling / a thought / flies by on a word. / A thought / a circumstance / a sound that you heard. / From Me to Myself / with One Voice given / I call and it is my Holy Self who answers. / With messages to myself I reach for you / and unwavering Love is the sound coming through. / Why would I stay where I don't belong? / With messages to myself / I call myself home.
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"Messages to Me" are messages from above
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-10-06
Meg Irsay is an amazing soul. She dances through this world with grace and love.
Now, with her thoughts in print, she has given the world an amazing gift. They are messages of truth that each person can receive in their own way. Each time I read a passage, it speaks to me in a different way.
Messages to Me is a gift that you give to yourself and then share with others.
Indeed, they are messages from up above.
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Messages to Me: Words Collected on the Road to Silence is a very good book!
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-10-04
Margaret Coyle's book "Messages to Me: Words Collected on the Road to Silence" feels like the written equivalent of performance art. The book, a mixture of poetry, prose and photographs, depicts a body and soul constantly in motion and emphasizes a continuous message of reaching out. Its message falters in some places - chiefly from the static nature of print - but it is still a calming read.
The first half of the book consists of Coyle's poetry, which focuses heavily on the themes of hope and assurance. Her poetry is quite forceful, focused on her appreciation for what life has provided for her and a desire to share it with others. The poems do not adhere to any set form or rhyme scheme and are not particularly inventive with word choice, but several of them - particularly shorter themed ones such as "Small Fires" or "The Leaf" - move past the state of affirmation and form charming metaphors.
These poems are paired with images of Coyle's dancing, leaping into various pages with a flowing white skirt. Images can seem a bit out of place (a poem "Eyes of Wonder" is matched with a photo of Coyle, her eyes obscured by long hair) but all of them are clearly meant to evoke a sense of freedom and exploration that matches the tone of the poems. Unfortunately, the lack of motion in photographs means the major feelings are lost.
Coyle changes outfits and styles in the second half of the book, slipping into black dance clothing and engaging in a series of stretches to accompany selections of prose. These paragraphs have a very psalm-like feeling to them, revolving around her devotion to God/All and affirming a commitment to seeking the truth.
The paragraphs are fairly standard in their writing quality but in many ways are more engaging than the earlier poems. Coyle, a teacher of movement and expression, falls into the role of instructor and speaks about how she uses relaxation and mental exercise as a technique for coming to a personal understanding. Sections such as "Quiet" and "Practice" carry a self-help message, written for our benefit and hers in equal measure.
"Messages to Me" is, like most performance art, a personal and extensive piece of work which may not find an audience amongst the general population - in this case, especially if they are not people of faith. To its target audience, however, it will likely strike home with its message of self-discovery.
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Thought and heart provoking...
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-09-27
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is a gloriously naked celebration of Spirituality and Love as the breath of daily life. It weaves poetry, prayer, prose and photographs into a tapestry that can appear like finest silk from one direction, and the roughest homespun from another. There is an uneven quality to the poetry that annoyed me at first because it didn't fit with the expectations I created based on the lovely feel and visual appeal of the book. Reading and pondering a bit more, I realized that the seeming incongruity between the words and the visual impact of the book were similar to my own state-of-self when engaging a new experience. The exterior is poised, polished, visually appealing. The interior is raw, sometimes rumpled and sometimes radiant. The book was simply reflecting my own reality so clearly that I nearly missed it.
The author, Meg Coyle, greets readers in the beginning of the book by saying, "I will leave it to you to follow whatever movement brought this book into your hands and invite you to let it into your heart. It was written from mine, hoping to find yours." Moving through my annoyance that my (completely unrealistic!) expectations weren't being met, I found the opportunity to witness a woman's heart opening to me in a genuine gesture of generosity and compassion. What will you find? In the author's words, "The invitation has been issued to each of us to cross the line we have drawn in our lives between what we think we know, and move at last, into the larger wisdom that is always calling us."
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