(Poster courtesy of Bright Skylark Literary Productions ) Recently the following quote from the poem A Poet Is a Clinton D. Powell , also known as “A Poem for a Poet,” has been making the rounds on the Internet: “A poet is a verb that blossoms light.” The poem was written to commemorate my friend Clinton’s inspired life and early death on January 2, 2011. That others have been gleaning some small inspiration and motivation from the phrase seems appropriate enough. He would have liked that because although he was not particularly prolific as a poet, he was an extraordinary champion of the art and those who practiced it. There were few venues in Savannah , Georgia, where he did not turn up for open mics or other poetry showcases (including  classrooms on every educational level) to lend his support.  To read the full post by Aberjhani ...

Montage of African Americans and Abraham Lincoln illustrating significance of the Emancipation Proclamation . ( Image courtesy of Library of Congress Public Domain ) Welcome to the first of this special 3-part article series presented in honor of the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation : The fact that an African American sits in the White House at the helm of government in the United States of America on this 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation represents both phenomenal political symbolism and a victory of faith in democracy that should not be lost on any American. Thoughts of the Emancipation Proclamation or the text of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S.  Constitution generally evoke images of American Blacks departing fields and kitchens to lend their own interpretation to the country’s great experiment in western democracy. But the end of legalized slavery did more than provide liberation for the bodie...

( Feathers of Gold, Feathers of Silver art graphic courtesy of Bright Skylark Literary Productions ) In July 2006, I sat down to write a short simple thank you note to fellow @poets and +writers who had graciously wished me well on my birthday. To my surprise, the intended short simple note came out of my pen in the form of the following poem: ANGEL OF GRATITUDE Each, shaped from a heart divine—such is the nature of your humble wings. Love, Mercy, and Grace, sisters all, attend your wounds of silence and hope. You are the good twin and the bad. Not arrogant, but jubilant…sweet… With grief or without, your flight commands awareness of joy beyond pain.     Holy starbright of infinite heavens, for these tears––I do thank you.     Just the fact that it was a poem was the first big surprise. The second was the style in which it was written, a variation on the haiku that I had never used before. Had my muse taken...

                           American troops maintaining their holiday spirit in the face of war .                                                           (Reuters photo by Saad Shalash) Why do you think certain creative works make such a powerful and lasting impact on a wide range of people? By way of example, consider the very edgy TV drama series Homeland , the current hit movie Lincoln , and Clint Eastwood’s modern film classic Letters from Iwo Jima ; or books such as The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and The Diary of Anne Frank . Their sustained impact likely endures because they achieve what the best of the cultural arts generally do–– they step beyond blinders of national restrictions to shine a transcendent light on the universality of the human experienc...