Brown sugar and cayenne,
Intertwined harmonies of violin and viola,
Winding willow and rooted oak,
Neck jerk, sassy smirk, and mile-wide smiles,
Melodic soul, metaphorical role,
Finger pop, hand pat, hip bump and juicy…
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For My Students!!!
I am posting this as a special request from one of my students. Thank you, Andrea, for asking me.
The following is a poem that I use in my poetry classes to introduce poetry as storytelling. It is one of…
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RESPECT!!!
I remember the red and black Atlantic Record’s label and the forty fives that my parents kept in the floor model stereo. I remember putting on a stack of records and hearing something in this voice that I just had…
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Slipping through the Cracks
Most often we think of an error or something else negative as slipping through the cracks. We talk about clean up work to clear and clean the dust and dirt that often falls through the cracks. We even talk about…
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Gratitude 8-4-2018
I am blessed to be celebrating the announcement of my first major publication, Threed, This Road Not Damascus, forthcoming spring 2019 from Trio House Press. I have worked and waited and worked some more a long time for…
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Joyful Noise
Muck, mire, memes, madness, slander, insults, and injury… It had become way too much noise for me. Social media and much of the media was filled with so much personal and political chaos that I needed to shut down for…
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Open Thank You Letter to My First Family and Community
On January 29, 2016, I appeared as the guest speaker for the Annual Book Fair sponsored by The Soul Writers Guild at The Evansville African American Museum in Evansville, IN. The following day, I was invited to facilitate a writers…
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Revelation Resolution
Happy New Year 2016!!!
Like most folks, I have been thinking about the things that I want to see happen this year: where I want to go, what I want to do, how I want to grow, etc.
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INTERVIEW: Miss MeaResea Homer
As a “Back-to-School” special, I wanted to open up my interview series with a student who is on the move and achieving her goals. Far too often, we are lost in the media madness that portrays the troubles and challenges…
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INTERVIEWS COMING THIS FALL 2015
I am excited to share that I will be doing a series of interviews for my blog this year!
I personally know some of the most creative, positive, passionate people on the planet! They continually inspire me on my toughest…
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Acknowledgement: A Response to My Sisters 40 and Childless
I am many things: Black, woman, writer, poet, performer, educator, speaker, wife, mother. That last one, mother, has taken an immense amount of time, energy, blood, sweat and motivation to manage let alone master. I have been the married mother…
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Bears, Bugs, and Geckos, Oh My!
“Life [is] like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get!” – Forest Gump
I was ready for something different: fresh air, a change of scenery, new opportunities, an opportunity to grow. Yep! I asked for…
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Summer Madness 2014!!!
SUMMER MADNESS!
It’s been a minute! I have been on the move!
This summer was indeed a summer to remember across 4 states (Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Florida) in in two months! I conjured change for my life, and…
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WRITE WOMAN: Kiara Morris
By invitation of instructor, Leslie Gordon, I had the honor of speaking with students at Hapeville Charter Career Academy in Georgia this past spring. I shared a spoken word/poetry/activist presentation. To my surprise, a few weeks later, Ms. Gordon informed…
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Ready, Set, Yes!
I have been quite the busy bee lately. I have missed my moments with the newsletter and the blog. So much has been going on that I have barely had the time to catch my breath.
In three days, I…
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New Chapters
I am writing you while still away working in New York. I am experiencing wonderful things while here and embracing new growth in my work and in my life. Good news and opportunities are pouring in, and I am most…
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Pick up the pieces!
While working in New York for the summer, I had the blessing of attending a workshop and reading featuring writer/poet, Amanda Johnston.
Wedged between brownstones in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem, I sat in a courtyard garden filled…
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Birthday Illumination
Journal Entry: Saturday, July 12, 2014, around 9:00 am
Today is my father’s birthday. He would have been 76 years young had he lived until today.
How very fitting it is that I have my first ever poetry performance feature…
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