BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Feb. 27, 2020– Spirit Fire Light is the longest poem ever to be published by a Belizean poet. The over 600- page book was self-published by Sean Taegar and can be summarized as his spiritual journey of becoming one with the universal spirit of creativity. Spirit Fire Light is a brilliant poem, loaded with powerful imagery in its celebration of nature and the universe, which Taegar stripped bare analytically time and time again, in the decade that he spent creating the poem.
In an interview with Taegar, Amandala asked the poet what led him to select the title “Spirit Fire Light”.
Taegar explained that Spirit is the spirit of God which lives in every man and woman, described as he and she, whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. Fire, he said, is the creative fire of the human soul that generates new worlds; and the Light is the liberating force of love.
Taegar said that the book is one poem that is comprised of 23 books. “But for me it’s one vision,” he noted.
“I self-published the book with Amazon and launched it last Saturday, February 22, at Spooner’s,” Taegar said.
“How did you end up writing the book?” we asked him.
“One day I told my father, the late Dr. Leroy Taegar, that I want to write a book of light. My father said to me, ‘go ahead and write it’. He said ‘write what you know, write what you feel, write what you want, write what you think and feel,’” Taegar said.
Taegar explained, “With God’s unconditional love, with the love of my father’s spirit with me always and the love of my mother, who was there for every step of the journey, and the encouragement and support of my whole family, the vision became real.”
“The cover design was done by Gerald Chavannes, Sr., who is a graphic artist. Chevans created the cover from a pen and ink drawing that I had done in high school. Margaret Reynolds of Reynolds Desktop Publishing did the layout, expertly and professionally. She encouraged me to self-publish,” Taegar revealed.
“I have to thank my whole family, especially my sisters and brother — Rommy Saunders, Tracy Taegar-Panton for supporting me and bringing this dream to life…. I also have to thank Ubaldimar Guerra. He shared some beautiful words about the book at the launch. I also have to thank Yasser Musa for the beautiful foreword. Yasser was my first art teacher. I have to thank Dr. Corinth Morter-Lewis for reading the manuscript and sharing her concerns and support,” Taegar added.
Copies of the book can be bought at Image Factory Art Shop on North Front Street, or from Sean Taegar through Facebook Messenger.
Taegar said that he is working on making the book available in additional bookstores, and that will be announced at a later date.
Feature photo: Sean Taeger