I was a poet long before I became a novelist, and I still have a poet's heart. The characters in my first novels first graced the lines of my poetry: Renee, Shirl, Pops, Giovanni, and Janae from Renee and Jay and Renee and Jay 2; Ruth, Soapbox Sam, Jar-Man, and Kevin (Guitarman) from Something Real; Jade and a host of students, teachers, and administrators from Jade Ed. (to be published one day).

 

The poems you are about to experience, then, are the inspirations for my novels, the poetic voices that would eventually speak in prose.

 

I am a product of the melting pot, so these poems are gifts from me, an American who still believes in that wonderful idea. They emanate from a bouillabaisse of places and faces in my life from North Philadelphia to South Jersey, from St. Louis to Pittsburgh, from Long Island to Indiana, from Ohio to Virginia. They are the literal gumbo of my soul. I hope you're hungry ...