“They say to let go of your past, but I think that this is a mistake. Sometimes the past tethers you on the right path for your future.”

This collection of poems by Linda M. Crate speaks of rebirth, reincarnation, and lessons from the past as a means to a better future. For the author, this is through a past life discovered in a very vivid dream that had both awed and confused her.

Within this dream, the author was visited by a strong, courageous woman—a samurai—who showed her how to listen to her past, learn from her mistakes, and inherit the future she deserves. The Onna-bugeisha (female martial artist) were female samurai. They were a type of female warrior who mostly belonged to the Japanese nobility. This collection was titled “the samurai” because this is what the woman in the dream wished to be known as. She was a fighter and a survivor, as is the author.