In the tradition of Sanchez and Giovanni, Stafford explores feminist, political and cultural issues in her poetry. Her moving poetry, both thought provoking and provocative, celebrates the expanse of African American culture and examines the painful silences of inequality and racism. Her poetry has a breathless energy, which goes from raw emotion to the still inner thoughts of an individual living life precariously - on the edge.
Excerpt
BLUES
Blue blues
Dark with clouds of grey,
Hover over long nights,
And slow, creeping days.
Bluest blues
Blinding sad,
Beat heavy on my heart
Like an old punching bag.
I’m getting too old to
Weather them blows.
Mean blues
Beat me senseless,
No use fighting no more.
My eyes is black.
My lips are bust.
Turned my last trick for blues
Lying down in the dust.
Can’t blame it on my man
Or the hard times I had,
Just got the mark of the blues
Sitting on my forehead.
Early Works is an exhaustive compilation of the first decade of the poems and stories of Z.B.McClure. Included are family photos, rare personal photos, photos of 1st draft manuscripts of many of his early poems. Also some biography and memoir materia
This book represents a thirty-day period of my poetry journal. Each poem addresses
the dominant thoughts occupying my mind during the early morning hours of a given
day.
