-A psychedelic odyssey through dreams of love and death- Comprising one hundred poems by Gino Vallejo, Shades of Blue: The Journey of Awakening is truly a trip-one brought fully to life by the haunting artwork of Stephanie LeVasseur. From Bethlehem to Byzantium, from ancient Egypt to modern Iraq, from cosmic shores to home and hearth, we drift along as selfless spirits, probing fallen empires' rubble, cursing despotism's war, extolling family, praising God...surrendering to passion. Seductively cryptic and trenchant in turn, Vallejo bridges dark extremes-man's genesis, apocalypse...freedom, fascism...heaven, hell...the fruits of ardor, thorns of greed-while scrutinizing timeless truths that, sunken, lie between. Intimate and sprawling at once, defiant of form but blent by beauty, each selection-cadenced hymn or cold lament-is singular, and, glistening with implication, no one scene is fixed in place. The words change shape at second glance, as layered meanings mix and meld. A labyrinth of yearning leads to paradisal vistas. Bespeaking angst and tenderness-decrying those who tie the trammels, beckoning salvation's bliss-the trek will be a certain joy for William Blake enthusiasts. En route, we sing a song of Earth and promises beyond.