Khaya Ronkainen releases her new book, “The Sheltering”

Image Source: Khaya Ronkainen

To touch the pulse of grief is something each of us faces, and it is a personal and emotional journey to navigate through. Oftentimes, we try to sweep these painful mental states under the rug, only to find that they somehow wiggle their way out and rear their threatening gaze.

As I read this new book release, The Sheltering by Khaya Ronkainen, I experienced a raw and unfiltered feeling of reality that addresses grief with an illumination of emotional highs and lows. You cannot rush through grief unless you were born without a heart. Khaya bares a vulnerability, naked with truths that people tend to dismiss or sugar-coat. The topics she discusses are nothing foreign, they are simply expressed in a unique way. I believe grief is something we want to move from quickly so that we can get back to a so-called normal. But, as Khaya alludes to, “we cannot heal what we do not acknowledge.”

I was touched by her personal reflections in her poem, “Accepting What Comes from Silence.” Here she speaks about the heartbreak of her father-in-law’s final days, their last goodbyes as he returns to words of silence. Silence. There is such power behind that word, and it resonates in our existence. The Sheltering is indeed a book that you cannot rush through. It is a book that echoes a reality that we may turn our heads away from, but the subject matter is one that we cannot ignore.

Image Credit: Irina Kolomijets

Khaya Ronkainen is a writer of poetry and prose. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks, “Seasons Defined” and “From the Depth of Darkness,” and most recently a full-length poetry collection, “The Sheltering.” She also pens a blog Life in Verse, Prose & Visuals at www.khayaronkainen.fi. Born and bred in South Africa, she now lives in Finland.

“As a child growing up in both urban and rural South Africa, I devoured words. My favourite subjects at school were languages. I enjoyed listening to the sound of my people as they click the consonants c, q, x; core to the Xhosa language. I looked forward to class debates, where we feigned indifference to the Queen’s accent. I felt empowered with positive feedback on my Afrikaans assignments.”

Check out The Sheltering and Khaya’s other captivating books of poetry on Amazon.com.