Weaving the World
A Tapestry of Eclectic Verse
by Rupert Raj

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Weaving the World is a collection of over one hundred eclectic verses on a variety of themes, people, animals, plants and nature. Themes throughout the sixteen chapters range from family, marriage & friendship to community connections, from race, ethnicity & nationality to sexual & gender diversity, from cross-cultural arts to diverse natural wonders, from philosophy & psychology to science & spirituality. Several poems are odes/tributes to race rebels, transgender activists and transformative spiritual teachers. A number of verses comprise protest poetry—advocating for equity and justice for Black, Indigenous and people of colour, for queer, trans and two-spirit people, and for enslaved farmed animals. Certain poems dance the dialectic between existential despair and the joy of life. The final flourish offers a set of life affirmations—heartfelt "encouragements" to fill the holes in our souls and help save our sanity in these dystopian times.

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Rupert Raj is a Eurasian-Canadian queer elder, pioneering community activist and retired psychotherapist. A multidimensional man, he is an existential humanist, Unitarian Universalist, social democrat, pacifist, ecofeminist, eco-activist, non-meat-eater and animal liberationist. Weaving poignant words about diverse people across countries, cultures, colours and creeds, and verbal images of Mother Earth’s rich tapestry of flora and fauna—as well as powerful words of protest against violence toward humans or animals—he is at once a poet-anthropologist and poet-activist.

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Contributors

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Rupert Raj