By Felician Masumbuko

During a book signing in Buffalo State College’s bookstore café, Tim Bienkowski, author of “Postcards: Poems and Photographs,” said: “A poem is a moment in time.”

Trying to stop that moment in time is one of Bienkowski’s messages.

“It is a connection between the sleeping and the awakening stage,” he said.

Kathy Hanaka, assistant manager in the bookstore, said: “Tim has his own style.

He wrote about his own experience.”

According to Bienkowski, people have a lot more power when they are awake.

“Make your awaking life of your choosing,” he said.

Some of his themes are:

• power of nature
• value of relationships
• family members

Bienkowski said that there are many things people should be thankful for and some people don’t realize how much they have in their life.

“A poem brings things to the surface,” said Bienkowski.

According to Bienkowski, by using photographs people can connect easily to what he is talking about.

“You recognize something that you did not realize it was there,” he said.

“Poems help people to discover a hidden truth.”

Bienkowski is a native of Westen New York. Many of his poems appeared in the Buffalo News and he has recorded a spoken word compact disk that he called Voices.

According to Hanaka, the bookstore’s café opens new horizons for people outside the campus.

About 30 people showed up and some read their poems.

“The more you do it, the more people come,” said Hanaka

The book is available in the bookstore and costs $14.95