When I think about how my poems/books came to be and how they finally arrived to the reader, I think of the words of the song "The Long and Winding Road". Though most of the poems in both Reflections and My Magnolia Memories were written within a span of six months (Feb 2007-Aug 2007), they've all been in the making from very early in my life. My mother gave me a passionate love for reading and writing, and my father gave me an appreciation for poetry and great literature, especially that of African-American origin.
I always hesitate to call myself a poet. I feel more like a vessel or conduit through which the poems flow. I never intentionally sat down to write any of them. They all came to be fully complete and neatly packaged, title and all. I just put them down on paper. I call my car my personal "think tank" because over half of my poems ,or actually, MOST of my poems came to me while I was riding in my car. For some reason, during the time when most of my poems were written, I had stopped listening to my radio and would just enjoy the peace and quiet inside the car on my way to work. All of a sudden , there was a poem. I would have to scramble around to try to get the words down before they left. ( I have lost more poems inside my head than I have gotten written down) . You would not believe the poems that I have on the back of Wal- Mart receipts, bills and miscellaneous scraps of paper ! One reporter who interviewed me , was very shocked when I pulled out a box from under the bed containing all of those "scraps" and jumbled words. LOL!
There is something to be said about "being still" and listening to that still, quiet voice inside.
We all have it. It's just so often drowned out by the "noise".
I wrote my very first poem in February 2007. I woke up on Valentine's Day 2007 with the words of "Our Place" forcefully dancing around in my head. I quickly got up and scribbled it down. To this day, it remains one of my favorites along with "Let's" and "Mississippi Man".
As you will see in my poetry, I am so proud of where I come from, so happy with the life I've lived and totally enamored with the southern way of life.
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