Currently my book is available at the online stores of Amazon and Barnes and Nobles and Borders. The publisher is at this minute selling discounted promotional copies of the book before the official release date of 4/28/2008.
I just thought I would share this info if anyone was interested in purchasing it. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Da Lady Mystik
Excerpt
From the Soul
A Sista’s’ Love is the building and the process of me becoming who I am. It has taken me several years, many heartaches, pains and experiences to evolve into the woman who’s here today. I love who I am and I’m confident and understanding of me. I’m happy and alive in my skin and it’s amazing that I can look in the mirror and actually see myself, and all my flaws. I look back at me and say, this is me in all that I am, let me be who I be!!!!!
This material is a collection of both poetry and spoken word pieces that have become a part of my life and it's testimony. Not all that’s expressed within this work is taken directly from my experiences, but a great deal of my pain and sorrow are laced within these pages and I can directly relate to each and every situation that these pieces paint, be it positive or negative I’ve been touched in some way.
My evolution began the minute I had kids, this is when my education of living and attending the skool of hard knocks took place. Like many women, I’ve had to reinvent myself in order to live and care for my kids as well as my self. There have been times when I wanted to just give up and quit fighting and struggling, but what kind of an example would that have set for my kids? I had to live by any means necessary when there seem to be no one present or who would have even examine my situation if it didn’t closely relate to them and their stuff. I was one of the lucky ones and I was able to rise above some of my stuff with the help of some pretty special women who cared for me and about me.
I have had many experiences that I could look back on and loudly say, “yes that’s who I use to be, but that’s not me today.” I’ve experienced domestic violence, low self esteem, the selling of ones soul to put food on the table or to get bills paid. I’ve gone from one bad relationship to another because I didn’t feel secure in my self to be alone, I felt like I had to have somebody. I’ve hung out with the thugs, the dope pushers/ sellers and users. I’ve had friends who were crack heads and prostitutes. I’ve experienced many things and a lot of my challenges were fought with the help of my SISTAS, my true girl friends.
I’ve used my sistas as sounding boards to express my inner most thoughts and feelings, and they in turn taught me that I was strong and needed to give my self more credit for what I have and what I can accomplish. It took me a while to trust my self as well as my girl friends with my true feelings, my true emotions and my true pain. I’ve learned that real girl friends will accept you no matter what. No matter what you've experienced, no matter what you’ve been through, true girlfriends will understand and will always tell you the truth.
I’ve compiled these pieces to help other women who may feel like they have no voice, or they can’t see any sunshine while living in their storms. This is a testimony for you, my way of saying you’re not along. I’ve been there, I’ve had some of the same feelings and desires and I survived and I’m continuing to survive everyday with the support of my sista’s. I had to step inside of my self to find my self and than to claim my self. We often time will not claim our wrong doings and our short comings. It’s ok to say to ones self, I know I’ve done a-b-and c, but to openly admit it is another thing. I’m passed that, I can admit my wrong doing and my actions so there are no secrets that can come back and haunt me or jeopardize the makeup of the person that I am today. So here it is, A Sista’s Love is, a complete and whole being with no stories to hide and no secrets to shatter my soul. I’m letting it all hang out.
I’ve lost an entire city of people, places and memories with the occurrence of one life changing event (Hurricane Katrina 8/29/2005). I also experience the lost of one of my oldest/best sista friend/ sista girl just 4 days before Katrina, and I can tell you I’m finally able to remember her and not cry. I miss her so much but each day it gets better. My suffering with Katrina was over the minute I learned my home was under water and I lost everything. I knew I had to get on my hustle; I pulled myself up because I had to live and provide for my kids. I grieved/cried and screamed for my friend in my private time, some times the entire night. But as soon as the sun came up and my kids emerged from their slumber, I had to put on my game face and start a new day.
It gives me great pleasure to share my work and my soul with you. A good bit of the poems and spoken word pieces that are in this work are directly taken from my life’s experience, others are what I have witness as a student in the skool of hard knocks. Please read with more than just your eyes, let the words pull you in to the experience and touch your soul as you bare not judgment.
Enjoy your experience.
Da lady Mystik
Professional Reviews
Off Da Chain
I've heard this poet in action live and in color. Her work is sur-real and she tells it like it is.
First Edition Translation of Teselas by Carmen Crespo X111 César Simón Poetry Prixe 2016 Translated from Spanish by Robin Ouzman Hislop and Amparo Arrospíde
This collection of poetry addresses the nature of time, reflections on the natural world, the difficulty of loss,
contemporary social issues and gratitude for life.
Using Calgary as a backdrop the author satirizes the self-serving nature of the public as it continues to fatten itself, not only physically, but egotistically as well.
