A Way with Words

I’ve been overwhelmed with the response that I’ve gotten. I never would’ve dreamed that my first release would get so much attention. If you haven’t made your purchase yet, do so now. Paperback Paperback Kindle

And don’t forget, The Dirty Dozen: Volume 2 will be released on June 17th! Plus, there will be much more coming from me this summer.

There will be appearances in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Memphis, Charlotte & Miami. Dates, times and venues will be announced as they become available.

Last but not least, I’ll be performing “Ten Things” at Between the Sheets 2 in Greenville, NC on Sunday, May 19th. If you’re in the area, please come out and support!

Well that’s it for now. Thanks for the support folks!

The first time I made you cry

Caustic tears showered your cheeks and

Almost immediately

A regretful lump of coal formed in my throat

I coughed up a diamond and told you

That I was sorry and that it would never happen again

I grew canary tulips from the cavity within my rib cage

Where my heart was supposed to be and

Handed them to you with

Remorse embedded into the creases of my face

My eyes pleaded for compassion as

You reached out a benevolent hand

Interlocked your lips within mine and said

I forgive you

You buried your face in my chest

I played in your hair

And we let the apology give our anemic relationship

Fresh blood

I wanted to create something

Beautiful

For you this Mother’s Day

Something that would make you reminisce and

Snicker silently to yourself about

The silly young poet you raised

But honestly

All of your best memories are

Enveloped in tragic events like

The night your eye became the most visible victim

Of a left hook you never saw coming but

Instead of hysterics and understandable rage

You simply wore dark glasses around me so that you would not

Tarnish the legacy of the only man who has ever

Tried to make me feel like his son

Or how I still can’t look at the scar

An inch below your left collarbone

Because it reminds me of 

Your battle with breast cancer

I remember crying for days when you lost all of your hair

But you just smiled as you and my sisters

Went wig shopping

Determined not to let malignant growths in your mammary glands

Keep you from being the divine woman you knew how to be

And when I was 12

You spent more time away from the home you paid for

Than in it because

Your days were consumed with work

You rose before the sun even thought to show its face and

The moon still beat you home most nights

I really tried to write you something beautiful, Mom

I just find so much love in your strength that

The good times simply pale in comparsion

So instead of rehashing all of the sweet memories

Of being your hard-headed son

I felt it was more appropriate to

Remind you that the most exquisite thing a mother could ever do

For her son

Is to keep living

Even when life allows every reason

To give up

The Dirty Dozen: Volume Two will be released on June 17th. Volume One can still be purchased here, here and here.

Thanks for all the support. New projects coming soon.

The time between

Your last goodbye and

Your next hello has become

The worst part of my day

But I have

Grown to love the

Milliseconds between

Seeing your name flash across my phone and

Hearing your voice again

The Kindle version of The Dirty Dozen: Volume One is now available for purchase here. If you’re a purist (or whatever you want to call a person who only reads physical copies of books), the paperback version can still be purchased here.

I’m trying to put together a little “tour” of sorts so that I can do some live shows and try to connect a little more to the people who have supported me here through Tumblr. Cities and dates will be made available next week so if I’m coming to your town (or if you want me to come to your town), be sure to come on out and introduce yourself!

In the meantime, new poems will be posted as well as a few videos. Thanks again for all of your support.

ghdos:

You can purchase my first official work of poetry here. This is for physical copies ONLY.

I did finally get the e-Reader/Kindle joint to work but it takes a little time to get it up and running on Amazon, so I’ll post that link as soon as it becomes available.

If you end up purchasing or at least plan to purchase in the future, like the Facebook page. I know it looks a little bland right now but there’ll be more added to it in the future.

I love you all. On some real shit. Supporting this project means everything to me.

lovelyandbrown:

do you have a topic that you think would be interesting/hard/challenging/cool for me to write a piece about? i need ideas! i’m losing my edge [?]