Some words caress you. Others raise a wave of inspiration. Words can motivate and uplift you. They can make you sad, sending you down a memory lane. But there are also words that punch you in the gut and leave you gasping for breath. Words that cut you open and leave you to gradually heal while you are pondering what you have just read. Such are the words of the poetry collection by Norb Aikin titled “World By Design.”
“There’s more to life than
your personal currency.”
- I Bring You With Me
You learn this cruel truth when you grow up. By losing illusions, ambitions, the people you love, and those who loved you. And then, if you manage to wrap your head around the fact that this truth isn’t cruel – truth cannot be such, it simply is – then you have a chance for a fulfilling life. Will it be a happy one? Maybe and maybe not. Once you accept that life is not about you, if this realisation doesn’t break you, it makes you see the meaning in existing, irrespective of its vibes or colouring.
I appreciated the way the author pulled at the strings of readers’ hearts that most people prefer not to be touched. So many people hide their heads in the sand for fear of seeing the ugliness of life. They are afraid of not being able to overcome it. I suspect that this is the reason behind the obsession with making every day nice, easy, and beautiful. Maybe it is good that people know their weaknesses, and this is their way to cope. Yet, I often find such an attitude to living uglier than the most heinous tribulations that life puts us through.
“The more you let go,
the more you can keep.”
- The Things We Lost Along The Way
It is true about both material and immaterial values. The more stuff we have, the less we use it. Often, because we cannot find most of it. The more we have, the less valuable our possessions become. It is the same with spiritual things. Once we start striving to be too good, to help everyone around us, we stretch ourselves too thin and burn like a match.
Poetry should not be easy to read, accept, and understand. First and foremost, it should make us feel something. Words shared from the depth of a poet’s soul never fail to do that. “World By Design” by Norb Aikin excels in forcing readers out of their comfort zone. The poet’s words stir something deep inside that you might have wanted to keep buried. Still, after you unearth it, feel it through, and absorb it, you may find yourself born anew, willing to embrace life as it is rather than how the world makes you see it.
“This ain’t our world.”
- Leave It Better Than How You Found It
Someone has already invented it. Millennia ago. You cannot become its master, but you can open up your heart to it, so that even in grief, you see purpose. While in joy, you soar in the sky higher than you thought possible.
“World By Design” by Norb Aikin is for everyone who seeks beyond the conventional and is not averse to reflecting on the tough, the weird, and the disturbing.
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2026Format: Paperback
Top reviews from other countries
- AlexReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2026
World by Design” is a beautifully written collection of poetry.
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
World by Design” is a beautifully written collection of poetry.AlexWorld by Design” is a beautifully written collection of poetry.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2026
The stunning use of language and depth of emotion invites us to slow down, contemplate and savour each piece, reading it and sometimes rereading it, to let it stir us and permeate through us. Each piece is truly profound and provocative, colourful and emotional - Full of pain, joy, love, anger and reflection on what it is to be alive, part of the world, both in the mundane and in the complexity. It provides a window upon the world, in which we can also see our own self reflected, both in distinction and comparison.
I highly recommended this collection.
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- joanne paulsonReviewed in Canada on October 14, 2024
What poetry is supposed to do
Format: KindleVerified Purchase - Author JcReviewed in Canada on September 30, 2025
Poetry that makes you think
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
