By Nadia Holm
When I met Devavani Lawrence many years ago, I was immediately drawn to her. So, I was thrilled to learn that her book, “Falling Off The Moon: Poems About Transformation,” was recently published by Creative Spirit Press.
Devavani, a lifelong writer, wrote poetry to express herself and found it to be one of the ways in which she can best organize her thoughts and access deep feelings.
But, articulating her feelings isn’t always accessible. “I’m one of those people who really have to sit with my emotions until they rise to the surface,” she said.
“Falling Off The Moon” is a collection of personal poetry spanning many years with each poem carrying a part of her “evolution as a woman moving through years of chaos, challenge and change.”
Written in moments of grief or revelation, her poems are “testimony to the unraveling, unfolding, and messy beautiful living that many of us navigate in return for liberation.”
Her poems were never written with the intention of being published; but rather, to understand what she was experiencing in life, to trace a feeling or a moment back to its source and try to put words around it.
However, after moving to Guam two years and seven months ago and into the Covid-19 pandemic, Devavani experienced a terrifying and daunting season of life where she was plagued by thoughts of death and dying.
Recognizing that we are all on this earth temporarily, with the encouragement of friends and family she wanted to create something tangible to share her legacy as “something that would be here when I am no longer on this earth.”
Devavani hoped the book would “touch other people in their lives, who may be having some of the same experiences that I had.”
“When people experience the darker side of life, what they need most is something to hold on to; some anchor of hope and faith,” she said.
Devavani hopes she was able to “shed a little light on what might feel dark and heavy in life” in the 24 eloquent poems she selected for the book “out of a very ragtag pile of pages.”
A gifted creator, teacher and musician who loves using her voice to inspire others through writing, poetry and singing, Devavani is excited about the next part of her journey which will include an audio version of her poems and she is also planning on a book launch on Guam and in California this summer.
Devavani offers online and in-person classes for anyone desiring to explore their own creative voice in mediums that include writing, singing, voice yoga, or the art of the spoken word.
“Falling Off The Moon” is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle and may be ordered directly from Devavani. Visit her website https://DevavaniLVocalArts.com or contact her at devavani333@gmail.com. 
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