Why poetry? After years of ignoring the silent voices inside me that screamed, tapped and begged to be heard yet, were muffled and largely ignored because of life’s greater and seemingly more pressing urgencies and demands eventually, I was pulled to a stop where time and circumstances allowed me to start over and record them. Poetry or the expression is not new to me; I’ve been using it all along the way to say things that were not appropriate or socially acceptable in polite company and among strangers. I’ve been using poetry to express emotions that otherwise turn callous a heart that chooses not to feel too deeply or record moments that were too surreal to be forgotten. Using poetry to express the ideas and thoughts of others that were not my own but words that somehow made the right connection with those needing to see those expressions in an artistic frame.

Like most destinations, to get here I took the circuitous route. Attended Atlanta Metropolitan College (formerly Atlanta Junior College) then Georgia State University studying Mass Communication and Journalism with the idea of learning the techniques to become a fiction writer or possibly working in the media. Rather quickly realized that a steady diet of (CNN) constant-negative-news was more than I wanted to suffer myself with. So, torn between choices I ventured into a career in financial services because the temptation was too great to resist. Like most pursuits that are not engaged in with total commitment and unconditional love, I soon found myself eloping frequently with my first true sweetheart—poetic expressions.

For the revolutionaries, I decided not to re-write that volume again. Instead, I gave it special tribute in the poem Bitch Session 2000+… which is presented in the last chapter as a prelude to the upcoming volume of poetry titled: Captured By Shadows: Distracting and Distorting Images. The aforementioned poem resultedafter having attended several venues that offended my poetic sensibilities. There was a time that the essence of my poetic diet and diatribe was the social mix of “wrongs” vs. “rights” and black vs. whites. My first PC decided for me none of that would ever make it to print when I got my first virus and lost several hundred pieces because I failed to do a backup or keep anything on hard copy. After years of bemoaning that lost I became Inspired(page 80) again. Entered a Rebirth (page 82) accepting that the most important things are those I have the most control over and the well being of those closest to me and directly impacted by me.

So this is a volume about what all men and human love, revolutionaries and yuppies; terrorist and apologist—it’s about women and mostly to women. This is a book that allows me to indulge my two most feverish passions, poetry and the beautiful muses that causes the poet to write or speak—who no matter how well adorned or scantily clad they present themselves, they are most often fully disrobed in the eyes and minds of men. This is a book that says things men are only allowed to think. It expresses emotions we are not comfortable displaying while giving voice to our silence.

For some readers, the content of more than a few pieces should possibly carry the warning: This poem carries suggestive or explicit content and may be deemed unsuitable for your taste. The fact is, I rarely set out with the intent to write a suggestive or explicit piece, instead I flow with what vibe and mood is hitting me at that moment, fully comfortable with the interplay of adult themes and the sexuality of a species that without sex would no longer exist.

Lastly, I write because I was not given the gift to sing. For many years there was a guilty feeling stored inside that somehow I had been cheated by Prosperity by not haven been given a voice that chimes and crones. Writing has been the gift bestowed to even that slate. So to you, here are my songs.