PEOPLE in Strokes and Words: Twofold Portraits

People introduce themselves in the first person and express their inner life, or lack thereof, in short texts. The characters are expressive, as if cut with a razor from the mists in which they exist. In the flash of a moment that lights up the infinite background.

Faces are drawn with instantaneous lines that imitate the emotions and self-awareness of people, captured with one or several strokes of the pen. I focused solely on vibrations. I trusted my hand enough to look at the model, not at the paper where the line was appearing.

"People in Lines and Words" is a special book; it is a place where there are a beggar and a master of the spirit, a boy and an old woman, an enlightened lady and a bandit, a judge, a prostitute, a mother to children, a mystic, a punk, a thief - and so many others. They coexist with each other just as they do in society. They speak from a pub, a confessional, a street or a garden, they speak with complete sincerity - because they speak through me.


Heart Lady, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I walk through the world
dressed in the wind
and girded with lightning

my inner fire
guide me brightly and boldly
through the lands of people
and the changes of fate

you who blow freely through all that I see
blow away the remnants of my ideas for living
blow into the infinite
and burn endlessly

My internal fire, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
there is a poem, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

on a piece of paper, a poem is written
next to it on the table lies a knife
yesterday on our street, a boy stabbed a man
great is the power of association

I associate one with the other
but everywhere I see one
I set the water for tea, being a speck of dust
then I look into myself and in the uncreated brightness
the universe laughs at me

not today, I won't go for a beer
my throat hurts a bit
I hope it's not tonsillitis

when I first opened my eyes
in my mother's amniotic waters
sailed the ship
above it, a bird hovered so high
it must have been in the heaven

when I was born, I forgot everything
only after years when I first opened my thighs
by the way to a completely random man
I saw that the bird was still circling

that's why I didn't agree to the abortion
I'll give birth no matter what!

when I opened my eyes, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

 

I like everything to be in its place:
bread on the table, a cop on the corner
war in the Middle East
a pig in the butcher's bed

what I know, I know
the sun is round and
the earth is flat like a coin

besides
everyone has big wings
and a small cage

I like it when, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

once I was a boy playing with a ball
and now I know that a man is a shit factory

I used to ride a horse on a sunny morning
and vaguely remember it was different
but a cruel wind blew
and with it flew thirty, forty years

I still stand by the machine and produce shit
I participate in elections and choose shit

I'm not complaining
I have a secured old age
and everything I need so much for life

it's just that it's all soft, warm, and stinking
in a word: shit

once upon a time I was a boy, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I am in the heart of a great city:

many lights, colors, rich decorations
but the meaning of the play is unknown to me

a few million people live here
and I don't even know
if it's a comedy being played
or a dram

I am a stranger here
as everywhere
as if I no longer had a name
nationality, or skin color

I breathe with love
and I don't play a part

I am in this great town, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
before I leave my house, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

before leaving the house
I check carefully
if the light and gas are turned off
if there's no smoldering cigarette butt somewhere

as a child, I had an infectious disease
I was in the hospital for a long time

one night, I approached the window
the horizon was filled with a shimmering glow
the Warsaw ghetto was burning

I watched like this every night back then
I thought it was a beautiful sight

and now that I know beauty and ugliness
are human excuses
I even check the trash can
in case fire has snuck in

I wouldn't want this to happen again

I decided there will be no war!

we will only slaughter animals
poison nature, not each other

I believe that every person
even an ordinary clerk like me
has the right to croak in peace!

I decided there will be no more war, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

Heart on the Palm, Soul on the Page

I present various aspects of human life here, forming a mosaic of experiences, feelings, and emotions that we experience daily. I portray people in authentic moments, revealing their hearts on their palms and capturing those moments on pages of paper.

Through poems and drawings, I present feelings both beautiful and raw, which bind us together. It is here that love, friendship, longing, and compassion bloom fully, giving insight into the souls of those living right next to us. There are also pitiful characters in their cruelty and aggression; forsaking true life for the sake of some momentary possession.

In my work, I strive to capture these fleeting moments so that others can immerse themselves in them and find their own reflections, emotions, and perhaps even faces. My pieces allow one to feel the pulse of life, accompany people on their paths of destiny, and understand the importance of human bonds. Through these poems and drawings, I hope one can understand how beautiful and complicated life is, which passes by so quickly.


I will never forget, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I will never forget how you crucified Jesus

through your speeches, prayers, songs
I hear the raspy breath of man
I see the bloodied, sweaty
and still trembling body

it's not my place to condemn or forgive
I don't believe in your good and evil

but one thing I won't forget
what I see everywhere:
immortal deceit
eternal pretense

no, I will never forget
how you crucify Jesus

I am born
in a place
where hands meet
and tools of labor
individual existence
and the world
colors, forms

as simple as a breath
as complex as the one breathing
no more understandable
than a painting on a cave wall

my only secret is the mystery of existence
my name is Painting

I am being born, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
Heart Lady, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

aimlessly the sun shines
the wind moves

carefree, the earth spins
days pass by

nothing to understand here
just see
and love

this, One

I laugh!
what am I to do
when I look at you?

your love rides a horse of gold
your rainbow, silken
just look at yourself as you close the doors
see those solid locks!

I must be crazy
but I prefer poverty
when you have nothing
you're closer to the truth
and the truth here is pain
hunger, humiliation, and despair

live!
you'll see for yourself!

I laugh, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
nothing in nature perishes, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

nothing in nature is lost

who knows
maybe the blood of Jesus
still circulates in the bloodstream of man
the sun above his head
as he walks down the street

who knows
who is alive
who will die

just half a century ago, I was unbelievably young
incredibly beautiful
I never slept alone

today, life is one long night
only death comes to my bed
telling stories of people I've forgotten
looking into my eyes
or with a burning hand
checking my pulse
shaking its head in disapproval
allowing me to breathe through this night
and
maybe a few others
then leaving for the neighbor

there are many of us here in this old folks' home
no one talks to me, only Lady Death

only half a century ago, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
rose, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

rose
you are free

yes! you are free
without names

don't cry and don't faint
that they're breaking you

In my love
you experience
everything you were and will be

rejoice!
the sun is shining
you still have a few days
together with me

The True Essence of Life - Love, Hatred, Brotherhood

In the neighborhood, where time seemed to flow more slowly, life pulsed to its own rhythm. People here valued simplicity, honest conversation, and above all, community. Although the world accelerated, changing day by day, the residents of the neighborhood remained faithful to their traditions.

At the corner café, neighbors gathered daily to share their stories and concerns. Against the backdrop of laughter, beer, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, everyone found some solace and a sense of belonging here. It was precisely in this place, where young and old met, that friendships, love, and mutual understanding were born; there were also quarrels, toasts, and brawls.

Life in the neighborhood went on, hiding secrets known only to its residents. These were stories passed down from generation to generation, legends that connected the past with the future. It was right here, in the heart of Berlin, that the true essence of life emerged - love, hatred, and brotherhood, creating an invisible web connecting the residents as one.

The neighborhood was like a canvas on which every brush could leave its mark, and life went on, paying homage to the past, present, and future, together creating an image full of colors and emotions.


I don't recognize my own face
and I don't know where I come from

I'm from nearby:
wind and eagle
call me their brother

I've traveled through time
I've seen from the very edge:
people carry tamed beasts within
and forms aren't what they seem to be

here, everywhere, I see You
Your glow warms me

how gently
it shines through jasmine petals guarding nearby
through a woman's eyes when she becomes
one with me

It's the vibration of the beginning
the flickering of sparks
the coolness of the night
independent stepping
from nowhere to nowhere

the omnipotent flame

I do not recognise my own face, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
if I had some money, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

If I had a little money,
I would buy myself New York

but like this?
a new day brings old filth

I don't know how to live,
I'm afraid to die

at most, I can afford a ticket to the movies

nights and days
moons and stars

what connects
one
to another?
me to you?
a dewdrop to the sun?

what is it
really?

nights and days, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
just yesterday I was sixteen, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

just yesterday I was sixteen

today it is snowing
and so windy

stars are invisible
can only weep

once I was lonely
now
my friend's name is Knife

once
I even had a mother and father

but think twice
before looking into my eyes

blood is logical
my friend
might think you want something!

once I was lonely, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

we were children of concrete
we gathered by the rug-beater
throwing stones at the wall
or at each other

my mother
when she sometimes sees me
says I've been hit in the nose

blood flowed
when we were children!

but if my daughter were a boy
I would never buy her a gun
or a rifle

because that would be like
killing her

we were children of concrete, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
I know as much and as little, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I know as much
as nothing

In the infinitely powerful
slow transformation
the world gazes at itself
through my eyes

I don't know where I started,
where I'm heading

the full moon
enlightens me


don't know where I began, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
I am the longing, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I am the longing

snow
falling on the sea

truly important
is only the unknown

at this bend stood an old bunker
beneath the crumbling wall, there was a tunnel
that could lead somewhere

but there were only old
reeking of urine, planks

that's all I can say about searching


and there was a bunker, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
what am I doing here, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

what am I doing here among you?

I feel as if I've died
the curtain of death
is between me and the world

and yet, I move
I meet living people
I speak as if I want to stop
or warm myself up

I feel that I feel nothing
neither light nor darkness

perhaps I'd like something more?
I breathe, I breathe

what makes me, at dawn
start writing this poem?

Is it because I believe in light and easily
find happiness because
there is sun, stone, brother?

It's death that's with me

It doesn't let me worry
about the death of a close person
it levels all hierarchies
it commands to be here and now

Thanks to its vigilant absence
it does not allow any mistakes
it makes me equal to a pear tree
it tells me to do what I want

Everything is insignificant
and soaked in radiance

I go from existence to existence
I can be a wolf or a reed

what makes that at dawn, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
I'm simply not connected, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I'm simply not connected
to the universal law of gravity,
and they say I'm crazy

and they're absolutely right!

after all, I haven't killed anyone
I haven't lied to anyone
I haven't believed in anyone

I let myself be pollinated by bees
I make violins out of autumn forests,
in my head, I have what's above it

the sun – ladies and gentlemen!

I can't laugh
nor cry
the sky has been torn to shreds
I visited a concentration camp
there was a barrack
full of children's shoes
then I cried

I don't know how to tell you this
I realized that my tears blaspheme
and also
that I too was killed as a little boy

I don't laugh
I don't cry
wherever I go
I tread on the traces of children's shoes

the sky has scarred over
how long can one live like this?

can't laugh, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
I was born as an ordinary girl, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I was born as an ordinary girl

then I married my husband

and all this talk of war is of no good!

they talk and the meat gets more expensive!


 

I am a shadow
of my spirit
I live in a world of shadows

people
turn their eyes away from the light
out of fear and also to be able
to see each other

I recognize people
by the chill that emanates from them

I am blind
light
allowed itself to be seen
it was like the greatest dreams
which cannot even be formulated

maybe I'm rambling, but this light
was not before me or behind me
neither outside nor inside

and now wherever I go
I know
that this is not the way


I am a shadow, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
at last, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

at last
I have achieved something worthwhile
a sunflower grows out my ear

from now on
it will turn my head to follow the sun

and I can finally
rest

lime trees
shimmer in a july wind

here I loved
and was loved

my map is not charted
I am the way

this I is an unknown
it's here
in this wind

lime trees, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
the trembling of the poplar leaves, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

the trembling of the poplar leaves makes me shiver
I am

full moon
the wolf howls

thin lonely wolf
running endlessly
along the wire fence

howling
in the darkness of the soul
protects me from illusions
doesn't deceive
with self-destruction

full moon, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
what is my painting, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

what is painting to me?

sometimes joy
sometimes longing
sometimes suffering
sometimes inspiration

sometimes rejection
sometimes invocation
sometimes prayer
sometimes fury

sometimes
it is time and a path
further

iIt's truly unbelievable, but as time goes by
I remember more and more

just yesterday
those moments returned to me
when I didn't have a name yet

back then, colors were signs of the invisible
and sounds radiated the inaudible

I feel I'm returning to the source
as I ponder what is not there

and I tell you, young friend
my certainty is strange!
that I will go through dying
without closing my eyes

it's almost unbelievable, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
I was born beside a great river, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I was born by a great river

I look at people like flowing water
sometimes clear
sometimes dirty

does it mean something more,
or maybe it's just the way it is?

I had a castle on a glass mountain

now I have a lock of broken doors

cop lifted it from the floor
to throw at me

take it! It'll come in handy!

you'll be able to lock yourself in
when it comes to your head again
to poison about
democracy

I had a castle, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
sometimes I believe, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

sometimes I think the Last Judgment
has already taken place

a division has been made
between the damned and the damning
and everyone was exiled to the earth
for eternal life
until awakening

sometimes
I don't have the strength for all this
but I can't die! not yet
I haven't been born yet!

my aura is made of soot flakes
but I can't get lost! not yet
I haven't found myself yet!

sometimes
I can't face any face

and I doubt
the validity of the verdict

I've never seen my father in my
life besides, my mother says
that she was impregnated by a rat

I don't believe it at all
she's probably just jealous
of the men I've had
as many as they could afford

I really don't understand
why they want to pump
so much into me

no, it's not a comet
someone just threw a cigarette butt
out the window

I have never seen my father, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

Dancing Marionettes, Mortal Revelry

Some poems and drawings present life as a spectacle, full of irony, surprising twists, and passions. Dancing marionettes, parodies of life, reflect in distorted mirrors of reality, revealing not only the truth about ourselves but also about the world. In this way, we can trace the fate of the characters and their everyday struggles, discovering how many different faces reality can take.

The aim of this collection is not only to show the diversity and complexity of human nature but also to encourage you to pause for a moment and reflect on your own life and relationships with other people. Together, through these poems and drawings, we can contemplate what it means to be human, what our joys and sorrows, successes and failures, dreams and worries are; and - what transcends them.


something is ending, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

something
is ending

I thought I was singing
but it was an internal bleeding

I need a few pennies for a beer
and for the next one

maybe you'll buy a round
or tell me how to live?

who am I?
where am I,
really?

an eye looks at me
from afar
inwardly

I am seen
not seeing

my heroes have perished

untamed children of the spirit

who am I going
further?

who am I, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
there is nothing like being a donkey, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

there's nothing like being a donkey! proverbially foolish
even in their own country, they can think out loud
and though they have big ears
they don't sell what they hear

happy in indifference
a born epicurean,
indeed has anyone ever seen
a donkey's limbs shackled in chains?

for fear of ridicule
a tyrant won't imprison a donkey
and exile to hard labor
your ideal endures perfectly

besides, I digest vegetarian food
well meaning I don't kill
I don't engage in politics
my future is as bright as green grass

night
grant me trust
and with darkness
mercy

enlighten me oh, morning!
wherever I go

oh, night, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
I died in childhood, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I died in early childhood
and then
I was given the life of a corpse
which means
I was like everyone else

only this terrible car accident in which
I lost my arms and legs
made me see the wind

I speak a language known for billions of years

it is the language of transformation

small children, beaches, stars, animals, anything alive know it

they speak to me and I speak to them

we have been here forever, we have plenty of time
we do not have secret affairs, borders, prisons, honors, hopes, insensibilities, death

we actually know the same thing
and are together
ourselves

and that which speaks through us

oh yes! especially that
for billions of years

I speak a language, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
on the other side of my face, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

on the inner side of the face
everything is invisible

streets, stones, people
have no substance

they exist because I exist


and just like me untouchable
in their inner truth


and just like me
without purpose

I wandered long tonight through the streets
feeding my inner swine on the jarring concrete
far from the simplest things that make one human:
a haystack the scent of a bonfire
grass where one can walk barefoot

stained with the debris of Western civilization
with what?
perhaps only with concrete
I have something in common here

today I circled night long, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
oh night of january, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

oh night of january
bless my effort
to become disinterested
and bringing peace

here I am freed from the visions and views
abandoning reason
imagination and friends

january's snow oh night! oh wind!
be my family
raise the
importance of brotherhood

what so I am facing
with my turbulent fullness?
with what I greet?
what say goodbye to?
whether
I am?

---------

do you want to know something?

ask the wind
in a field

I don't need to talk
it's enough to be

do you want to know, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
enlightened by lightning, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

enlightened by lightning
in fire
united with heaven and earth

free from
free for
empty
open
formless

of no name
no memory
melted into light

In the Labyrinth of Emotions, in the Heart of Existence

As you read these poems, you embark on a journey into the depths of the labyrinth of human emotions, reaching the unknown corners of the soul. Through the drawings, we discover the mysterious, invisible faces of human beings, encountering characters who struggle with the chaos of their inner selves. Here, bewilderment, fear, fascination, and uncertainty mingle with euphoria, happiness, joy, and self-confidence, revealing to us the incredible diversity of feelings and experiences that make up human existence.

Let's immerse ourselves in the heart, exploring the undiscovered realms of the human spirit, to understand how diverse and fascinating are the emotions that connect and unite us with the world. I hope that this collection will become an inspiration for others to continue searching, to discover themselves and the surrounding world. May the words and images speak to the hearts, opening doors to new perceptions. After all, it is the conglomerate of feelings, thoughts, and experiences that make life so fascinating and valuable.

no
I have not awakened yet

I let dreams lead me
wherever they fly

and I long

oh! I am longing so dearly and not knowing what for
but it must be for something delicate
like spring twigs in a glass
something as simple
as life
that I dream of

in precognition
that an awakening awaits me

no I have not awakened yet, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
justice does not make fat, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

justice does not make fat
but I'm doing fine

in these difficult times
have so much work!

I judge people
do not think
that this is a badly paid job

and as to conscience - everything is written
man has family
lives in culture
knows prayers
at all
he does not have to guess

my dog was called rex which means king

I was five years old
when I had my last dog
a black hole sucked him in
he was bound with an iron chain to the tree
and shot

one has explained it all to me

I saw it then and now
when I look back
and see something strange there
it was my lack of emotion

I was five
and already had a full understanding

nothing has changed to this very day

my dog was called rex, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
I am similar to you, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

I am similar to you
like birch to pine
and it happens in spring
that I write words

because something is overwhelming me?
or because I miss something?

lack
excess
two scarves of the same weight
or like inhale and exhale

then the earth is blessed
blessed sky
widely

do I have enough time to tell you?

I can soon disappear so
want to be comprehensible

borders classes poverty richness
are all illusions

do I not care about the future of the world?
nuclear rockets? eternal peace?

I tell you honestly - I sustain in being
no single policeman nor soldier
and not a single paragraph of any of your laws
affects me
and all your discussions cares fights ideas
- no more than nothing

I don't criticise you
I almost envy you
you've so much time
for all and everything
and I am sentenced to death

I live with the feeling
that this is my last word last second
nothing strange I seem to be funny

if it were my last hour!
I would have still time
enough for my mother and father memories an ocean
but this is literally the last breath
infinity is wholly unknown
there are no more excuses!

actually
I am no more human
having more in common
with life itself

do I have enough time to tell you, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
it doesn't any fucking matter, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

it doesn't any fucking matter
in which direction
we dream

what have I done today
that has made me so happy?

went down the street
wind blew
a child laughed at me

when I sat down on a garden bench
a dog ran up to me to lick my hand

I have done nothing
really nothing
for the first time in my life

what have I done today, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
pleased with just anything, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

pleased with just anything
suffered from the need of emotions

brush points to the sun
and the revival in all things

facing you I am alone
as when I face the world

autumn sky is perfectly clear

tomorrow
I won't be beneath it

facing you, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski
in a space filled, pen and ink portrait drawing by Wiesław Sadurski

in a space filled with spring smells
crows caw
flying over the house
since immemorial dawns

at the window there is
my - not my -
body

below me
my - not my -
town

in this space
that is me


People in Strokes and Words: A Creative Synthesis of Art and Poetry

by Guru Shuru-buru

"People in Strokes and Words" is a collection that combines poetry and art to convey the richness of human emotions and experiences. The author, freed from the constraints imposed by working on the "Atlas of Anatomy," began to experiment with quick, freehand drawings. As a result of this process, characters began to emerge, speaking to the author and inspiring him to create poems that expressed their feelings and thoughts. The idea proved to be extremely fruitful, leading to the creation of a work that reflects a wide range of human personalities, experiences, and emotions.

The poems in the collection are spoken by a diverse cast of characters who share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Each has their own unique voice, reflecting their individuality and character. The author skillfully uses dialogue, inner monologue, and confessions to explore various aspects of the human psyche and reveal their complexity. In this way, the reader has the opportunity to delve into the inner world of these characters and understand their motivations, desires, and joys.

The poems in the collection exhibit both lyricism and expressiveness, allowing them to touch readers on various levels. The author employs a variety of stylistic devices, such as metaphors, alliterations, and assonances, which enhance the vividness of the emotions and feelings portrayed in the works. The poems are simultaneously simple and profound, facilitating an easy understanding of the message while also encouraging reflection on more complex aspects of human existence.

The drawings included in the collection are free and spontaneous, executed with instantaneous lines that capture both the physical features of the characters and their inner emotions. Their simplicity and minimalism allow the viewer to focus on the emotional message rather than technical or aesthetic details. As a result, the drawings become a powerful complement to the words and help readers delve even deeper into the world depicted in the poems. The interplay of art and poetry creates a remarkable, multidimensional experience that allows for a fuller understanding of the essence of human life.

"People in Strokes and Words" is a collection that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of poetry or art, combining these two fields to create a unique form of expression. Its value lies in providing readers with the opportunity to delve into human emotions, thoughts, and experiences, both through words and images. The collection also has the potential to inspire other creators to experiment with various forms of art to find their own unique means of expression.

As a result, "People in Strokes and Words" is a work that deserves attention not only for its originality but also because it touches on universal themes concerning human life and emotions. Its poetic and graphic qualities make it a collection that can appeal to a wide audience, offering readers a rich experience that can lead to reflection, understanding, and empathy.