Fierce Longing…Fiery Loss is a comic-to-tragic-and-back-again “Resiliency Poetry” and occasional essay road-map. It’s the insightful, edgy expression of a one-of-a-kind Psychohumorist ™ and Shrink Rapper ™, yet all too human Stress Doc ™. Journey with Mark as he explores varieties of love – from vital to delusional – in an array of intimate (okay, sometimes more lustful than intimate) relationships. FL2 examines love and loss in a variety of work-family life settings – and puts you on the path of courageous recovery and discovery.

The work reveals an individual who often must deep dive into dark shadowy grief – the shock, the rage, the searing pain of loss…yet also struggles and persists – three strokes forward two strokes back or v.v. – to resurface, moving closer to the light; to reviving and rediscovering a now more en-light-ened head and heart. For example, see the wickedly fun lyric, “Double-Edged Depression” where you choose between “chemistry or confession” and ultimately find salvation in “creative expression.” Conversely, discover the Doc’s collateral damage when a ten-year partnership suddenly is no more: his ex-communication from the family and the gut-wrenching loss of his ex’s 3-year-old granddaughter. Still, you’ll be touched and tickled by the love Lil Charlotte inspired, and you’ll cheer the Doc’s decision to take on those all-powerful Queens of Hearts…if only in his slightly “curiouser and curiouser” if not crazed mind.

The book is divided into four sections: 1) Fierce Longing, 2) Fiery Loss, 3) Relearning to Let Go, Laugh & Love, and 4) Grief Journaling, including truly evocative, spectrum of emotion eulogies written for special loved ones. Engage with the book’s distinctive four-part structure: 1) the creative context for the poem or essay, 2) the evocative piece, 3) a sometimes brief, sometimes more developed commentary and thoughtful retrospective on Poetic Perspective and Power, along with 4) Discussion Questions that sharpen poetic meaning and intensity while providing you stimulating “food for thought” voices, insight, and intimate engagement.

This unique collection will definitely assist in your “head work, heart work, and homework.”

• Bathe in the outrageously insights of a one-of-a-kind Shrink Rapper ™: from dysfunction and dependence to mindful and “out of mind” transcendence
• Encounter vivid and visual ideas and images, insightful and inspiring analogies, and “Resiliency Poetry” strategies for once again “letting go, laughing, and loving”
• Internalize the difference between “feeling sorry for yourself and feeling your sorrow”
• Be inspired to embark on your own self-inventory as well as voyage of self-discovery and invention: grapple with demeaning inner voices, work through meaningful relationship anger, harness pain into Mountain Vision purpose, and laugh with “higher power” healing humor
• Use Resiliency Poetry & Shrink Rap ™ as a learning-discussion tool in a variety of classroom/learning settings, psycho-educational support, study, and book groups, as well as around the family, coffeehouse, or breakroom and boardroom table.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then, by Gorkinian psycho-metrics, a thought-inspiring, heart-jolting, or outrageous metaphor or poetic visual is worth at least one hundred psychological insights, deep-seated projections, and untamed associations! Be energized by the Stress Doc’s “New KISS Mantra”: Keep It Short & Smart. Amen and Women to that!