The Fool (Poetry and Other Works)

The Fool, Poetry and Other Works is the last book in a series I now conclude to be THE POSITIVE PRIME, which was the title of my first book of poetry. The Positive Prime began my story and my process as a poetry writer. It is my “Self – Identity” and the beginning of the story of how I viewed the culture of the African Diaspora and culture within the world. I attempted in my next books, Conversations with a Soul Brother, Soul Food, Legacy of an Ex-Slave, and even Alternating Views to construe that the Black perspective in real terms, is a nurturing spirit, which is expressed as ‘the soul’ as I view “us” to be as a culture. I always understood that any poet has the responsible to represent his or her culture, like Nikki Giovanni speaks to Black folks, mainly and as William Shakespeare talked to the English-commoner in his day. Art and writing, in particular, are the culture of those who express their perspective as a person, through a culture or background, first. “We are who we are.” It is often noted that arts and literature transcends all cultural backgrounds, which I can agree with, for the most parts. But, saying, “we are who we are,” is a “crock” mainly, told to us Black folks, in order to to have our culture not impacted on a global level; but instead, to have us minimized, and in many cases excluded all together, from the Western Educational curricula.. Black culture is very different from white culture, before or after, any Imperialist influences. I have noted in my essay, “African-ism” (In Alternating Views and Conversations with a Soul Brother) that even, the Afro-American culture is a culture upon itself as the blending of our African roots with the Western culture in which, both, we exist. It all sounds so simple now. But “African-ism” is all about who the Afro-American is and who we have become. In many of my other books of poetry, I delve into “me”, as a spiritual being, as evidenced in Welcome Home, Obedience to Poetry 2.0, and For God, for Love, for Country, and for You. I look at my religious background as something that I am willing to embrace, rather than forego, not because of any social need, alone, but as a part of my personal development and culture. (I have several great-uncles who were prominent preachers in the Free-Will Baptist Faith). I have continued along that road and I have incorporated my religious upbringing or exposure into all my writing, as the spiritual being that I am.