Soul Ownership

Ryan Steinbeck began work on Soul Ownership in early February, 2015. The title originated from his belief that we are losing touch with ourselves and each other as technology around us advances. Frustration builds in stores, restaurants, coffee houses, and on the road when, more and more, individuals have their noses buried in their phone. For many, face to face conversation is becoming a thing of the past as we appear to be allowing technology run our lives. This is a collection of poems that explores the losing, discovering, protecting, abusing, and yearning for Soul Ownership. It follows several different characters on different journey's. It is a heartfelt plea to stay grounded in reality and to not allow being taken advantage of by the idea that we need to be a certain way for acceptance. This is possibly one of Steinbeck's most uplifting and positive books to date. His maturity as a writer is on display, as is his growing understanding of himself and the world around him. This collection is well worth the time, and has the potential to grow on you with each read. The book contains several standouts: "Thoughts And Memories Of This Region" was chosen to represent Porter County, Indiana in the compilation "Mapping The Muse: A Bicentennial Look at Indiana Poetry. Also worth noting is the wise, title poem "Soul Ownership" which finds the character fighting to protect his soul from corruption. There are many other great poems, including "Punto De Reunion," "Elegy For Brussels," and the gloomier "Dark Road" which follows a character dealing with the uncertainty of his life with cancer. Possibly the standout of the collection, and maybe Steinbeck's best poem to date, is "Glimpse (Light of Dawn)" which was written after a suicide and addresses the fleeting time we have here to appreciate who we meet and the love we can give and receive. Soul Ownership a strong addition to the writer's biography and well worth the read.