Before The World Wakes
A book of 42 modern poems.
by NGK
If you’ve been searching for words to lift you, hold you, and quietly remind you that you’re not alone — this is the book you’ve been waiting for.
When The World Wakes is a moving collection of modern, heartfelt poetry by Amazon bestselling author NGK. These poems speak to life as it really is — messy, beautiful, fragile, and endlessly surprising. Within these pages, you’ll find verses about hope, resilience, love, loss, courage, and the small moments that, one day, you’ll realise were the big ones.
This isn’t poetry you’ll need to puzzle over. It’s poetry you’ll feel.
The kind you’ll return to on tough mornings, quiet evenings, and those in-between hours when you need a little reminder that you’re doing better than you think.
Keep it on your bedside table, and let it be the voice that tells you to carry on, to look up, and to believe in better days.
Because the world always wakes — and so will you.
Before The World Wakes
A book of 42 modern poems.
by NGK
If you’ve been searching for words to lift you, hold you, and quietly remind you that you’re not alone — this is the book you’ve been waiting for.
When The World Wakes is a moving collection of modern, heartfelt poetry by Amazon bestselling author NGK. These poems speak to life as it really is — messy, beautiful, fragile, and endlessly surprising. Within these pages, you’ll find verses about hope, resilience, love, loss, courage, and the small moments that, one day, you’ll realise were the big ones.
This isn’t poetry you’ll need to puzzle over. It’s poetry you’ll feel.
The kind you’ll return to on tough mornings, quiet evenings, and those in-between hours when you need a little reminder that you’re doing better than you think.
Keep it on your bedside table, and let it be the voice that tells you to carry on, to look up, and to believe in better days.
Because the world always wakes — and so will you.
It's been a long time since I read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, but I recall a father and son discussing a book of poetry, and while the son was frustrated that he was "getting" the poems in the book he was reading, his father distilled the experience down to, "Poetry should make you feel something." Poetry can be celebrated, no matter the country from which it originates, no matter the genre it falls into (traditional, rhyming, lyric, experimental, etc.), or even whether it's considered "elevated" or "Instagram-worthy." The most important thing about the poem... is that it makes you feel something while you read it, and ideally, that the feeling stays with you long after you've left the page behind.
I don't say this harshly: I wouldn't call the poetry by Nathan GK "elevated" or "inaccessible." Rather, I'd call it "approachable," "thoughtful," and even "confessional," common marks of poetry that frequent Instagram and even grocery store book aisles (where Rupi Kaur and Cleo Wade frequently are shelved, ready to be picked up with the week's eggs and bread). The poems in Nathan's collection are brief, with short, enjambed lines, and a delicate balance between declarative, observational statements and descriptive, imagistic renderings of nature, the ocean, and winter. Most importantly, they lean into some of the most valued aspects of the human condition: connections with other people, warmth, security, beauty, and our place among the natural.
Coffee and warm beverages are a frequent fixture in these poems, and I smile, believing that is no accident. Rather, these poems make me feel safe and comfortable, and they are poems that I want to curl up on the couch with, along with a blanket, pillow, and steaming hot cup of matcha, on a cold winter's night or even at the end of a (very) long summer day.
Here's one of my favorite poems from the collection:
Winter Walk
The air bites a little,
sharp and clean,
as you step out into winter's hush.
Your breath rises in soft clouds,
footsteps muffled by frost-kissed ground,
the world wrapped in a muted kind of peace.
Trees stand bare,
but beautiful still,
their branches a lacework
against the pale, cold sky.
And for a while,
you belong to no one but the quiet.
Then home calls.
To warmth.
To soft blankets and thick socks.
To the scent of something familiar
steaming from a waiting cup.
To light that flickers
and sound that hums low.
And you'll smile,
because it's the oldest kind of joy -
to walk through the cold
and find the warmth again.
A simple, sacred thing
we were always meant to love.
Love. Security. Warmth. Home. Comfort. A place to go. A goal and a destination. Poetry should make you feel something. If this poem made you feel anything (and I hope it did), then I strongly recommend checking out the full collection, Before the World Wakes by Nathan GK.
And since Nathan calls this "Volume One," I can only guess that there is more to come, and what a pleasant wait that will be.
If you're looking for something lovely and comforting to read, I strongly recommend this collection, and I'm excited to see what Nathan will share with us next.