Family Poetry

This book is based on the life experiences of a little girl who had to grow up fast. She was a mother at the age of 14. She had an apartment and adult bills at the age of 15. She struggled in an urban environment to do the right thing, but kept doing the wrong until she had enough experiences in life to guide her through her storm. Learning by experiences and not giving up, today she is a successful business owner, and her daughter is also a successful business owner. She has two beautiful, respectful, and smart granddaughters.

From Lincoln Center’s inaugural poet-in-residence comes this unflinching collection that intricately mines the experience of being a Black woman in America. A highly anticipated volume from critically acclaimed poet Mahogany L. Browne, Chrome Valley is at once a luminous hymn and a battle cry. Spanning the course of her own life as well as embodying centuries of virulent history, this collection pays solemn tribute to the women who came before her.

Renia White is a first-time author. Her debut collection, Casual Conversation, was chosen by Aracelis Girmay as a Blessing the Boats Selection. Named in honor of Lucille Clifton’s National Book Award-winning collection, Blessing the Boats Selections spotlight new poetry collections by women poets of color. Previous Blessing the Boats Selections include Letters to a Young Brown Girl by Barbara Jane Reyes and Year of the Dog by Deborah Paredez.

Clara Jean Beaman Walker was the third of seven children born to Cora and Clarence Beaman in Knoxville, TN, in 1910. Considered to be “Little Mother” by her siblings, she always gave her best to her birth family and to the family she created with her husband, John Albert Walker. Three sons came from this union: Johnny, Clarence, and Henry. A teacher at heart, Jean saw each child before her and helped them navigate home economics, English, and realizing their potential.

Cynthia has devoted her life to nursing, inside and outside the walls of the hospital. Her dedication and commitment to the nurses of yesterday as well as the nurses of today and tomorrow are held close to her heart, mind, and prayers each day. This book exemplifies her compassion for the art of nursing. Her heart beats for the nurses, the patients, and their families. Cynthia believes that if mentored and nurtured, nurses can be the light in the darkest moments of a person’s life. Her poems give a nurse the perfect dose of inspiration, hope, and comfort.

The purpose for which I wrote the following poem(s) is because they assisted me in expressing the feelings, thoughts, and emotions which I was having at the time while I walked through a relatively challenging period of my life. I hope to inspire other young Black males to also express their thoughts, talk about their feelings, and to hopefully try to make the world a better place. Allow yourself as the listener to think of your own perspective regarding these topics, issues, and subject matters.

When I was in the fourth grade, we had a map of Vietnam on our kitchen wall. When my mother received an airmail letter, she would walk to the map and move one of the stickpins to a new location to see if one of her brothers was in harm’s way in some new hot spot or battle. I spent a lot of time worrying about that map. I had five uncles in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. This is a book about going off to war, a book about coming back home, and a book about those who are left behind. I dedicate this book to those voices, my family, and every voice calling out at times of war.

No Sweet Without Brine is both a soulful and celebratory collection that summons sticky sweet memories with an acrid aftertaste of deep thought. Satisfying moments are captured in odes to Idris Elba’s dulcet tones on a meditation app and the satisfaction of half-priced Entenmann’s poundcake; in childlike observations of parental Black love, the coveted female form on Jet Magazine covers, and the desire for Zamunda to be a real place full of Black joy.

The debut poetry collection of Charles Kell, Cage of Lit Glass engages themes of death, incarceration, and family through a range of physical, emotional, and philosophical spaces. In startling images of beauty and violence, Kell creates a haunting world that mirrors our individual and cultural fears. Boldly engaging with the absurdity, strain, and horrors of life, Kell’s poems expand upon the lineage of writers such as Kafka, Beckett, and Rimbaud.

Frank, unsparing, often violent, and disturbing, these poems speak in the voice of a young man trying to navigate the city he loves as he lives in the long shadow of its decline with a sense of grace and hope. With the city of Baltimore as his backdrop, accomplished poet, author, and editor Dean Bartoli Smith offers a wrenching examination of our troubled attachments to place and the deepest wounds of the American psyche.

From a visionary writer praised for her captivating work on Black history and experience, comes a poetry collection exploring personal, political, and artistic frontiers, journeying from her family's history as "Afropioneers" in the American West to shimmering glimpses of transcendent, liberated futures.

A book of over 135 poems from the heart of the young woman who went to Romania to teach English in Anne's book "Once Upon a School Day". These warm, catching, sometimes modern, sometimes classic poems will touch your heart and bring tears to your eyes as you read the journey this young woman has walked through life.

Trini: My Life of Poems is a story of determination, courage, and unyielding faith. Each poem is a chapter in a life filled with a single mom's struggles and perseverance. Breathe in each line, and share those experiences, viewing them through the windows of her eyes.

Former Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye delivers her latest collection, subtitled Poems About Families. They’re mostly focused on her relationship with her mother. Nye has a comfortable, unaffected delivery. Her voice has an unstudied tone, but, make no mistake, every syllable lands with precise intent. The poems are short and, at times, breathtakingly revealing, touching on acts of love and occasionally betrayal, on mysteries a child can never truly plumb. These snapshots come together to create a portrait of a vibrant, wounded, whole woman.

Written in free verse, Hidden is a compelling tale about an unlikely friendship between two girls. Darra Monson and Wren Abbott first cross paths when Darra’s deadbeat dad is arrested for theft and kidnapping after he steals a car - unaware that Wren was sitting in the back. Years later, the girls - now teens - attend the same summer camp, and are forced to confront the fateful event that changed their lives.

Die erste Gedicht-Sammlung der beliebten Poetry-Slammerin Leah Weigand (Ungepflegt), die uns ganz persönlich und unsere gesamte Gesellschaft nachdenklich wie hoffnungsvoll unter die Lupe nimmt.

Poems and short stories related to life....

In a new city, at a new school, 12-year-old Emmy has never felt more out of tune. Things start to look up when she takes her first coding class, unexpectedly connecting with the material - and Abigail, a new friend - through a shared language: music. But when Emmy gets bad news about their computer teacher, and finds out Abigail isn't being entirely honest about their friendship, she feels like her new life is screeching to a halt. Despite these obstacles, Emmy is determined to prove that, for the first time ever, she isn't a wrong note, but a musician in the world's symphony.

I Love to Take a Bath! is a delightful rhyming bedtime story for babies and toddlers. Follow Nate as he "climbs in the tub to scrub, scrub, scrub!" Adorable rhyming patterns make this a pleasing story for little ones. I Love to Take a Bath! is sure to be a favorite bedtime story for both children and parents!

With bouncy rhyming language, What Can A Mess Make? inspires listeners to embrace their imaginations, linger in the beautiful messes on every page, and make some messes themselves.