It’s not your everyday collection of poems that you find in this book – Our Highest Priority: Embrace Courage, Abandon Fear – but what the author calls a poetic collection of stories.

Barbadian-born Marva Smith says the book is “a philosophical presentation of stories that are themed on nature’s interaction with our planet,” adding that the collection makes the heart sing and brings hope to a world that has not yet achieved peace.

“They capture the essence of daily life, its complication and simplicity.”

She tells The Camera they are also themes such as trust, discipline and desire. She talks about daring and mesmerizing. “These bold ideas deeply explore the quality of relationships: Trust is essential to fuel persuasion; a relationship based on jealousy cannot survive.”

She adds that while the book contains stories in a poetic format, she touches on “factors that influence our world view and forces that impact our philosophy of life. We are encouraged to be proud of ourselves and our own accomplishments because we contribute to the greater cause.

“Using our life skills, we are shown roots of a problem and the approach to solve it.”

Toronto resident Smith, who worked in the banking sector for a number of years, says there are fascinating descriptions in the book of how discipline and competition, faith and optimism function in our world.

Two examples, she identifies are “Discipline must be encouraged for competition to flourish” and “Faith is reflected in our confidence, our inner sense of security.” She adds that “these are attitude changers intended to energize our self-image and motivate us to let our imagination and our vision soar.”

This is Smith’s first book and has been in the making for almost five years. According to her publisher, she wrote the poems to find answers to questions she was asking herself such as What is the purpose of this life? Why do we live the way we do and make choices the way we do?

“This stirring collection of poetry is indeed an attitude changer as it seeks to make the world a better place. We are thrilled to announce its release,” said Robert Fletcher, CEO of Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Agency.

The book can be ordered through the publisher’s website http://sbprabooks.com/MarvaASmith, at Amazon or BarnesAndNoble.