ANGELA JACKSON-BROWN
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I AM

5/12/2012

2 Comments

 
I AM

When you look at me, you see not just an
adopted baby of unknown pedigree

but a baby shuffled from one
Front Porch Monarch to the other,
each trying to mark me, massaging their
imprint into my skin with gnarled fingers
in an effort to make me their own.

a love child cradled by my daddy’s callused hands,
hands that were rubbed soft with Jergens Lotion and Vaseline
after long days of toiling for what seemed like at times
only a few dimes and nickels.

A country child begat by country folk who often got pecked
by the beak of Jim Crow but who occasionally
got the chance to peck him back.

A blues child who jooked just as hard as the grown folks when
J.W. Warren plucked blues harmonies
in the guise of gospel tunes in order to satisfy
both the tea drinkers and the shine sippers who
all congregated under the Saturday night altar
of stars and vast, Alabama skies.

A sometimes fearful child who was warned about
the Billy Bobs, Joe Nathans, and Cooter Lees
who whooped it up on back country roads and side streets--
screaming racial epitaphs that burned crosses into
the souls of the hearer, but in a pinch these men
would do you right ­– whether you were white or black.

But most of all
I am a storyteller who is tied to generations of
other proud storytellers whose
stories I carry in my belly like unborn babies, waiting
for the day when Emancipation comes, so I can
be one of the first to set our stories free.

© Angela Jackson-Brown, 2012

2 Comments
Robert L. Brown
5/13/2012 02:11:14 am

I know that it may sound self serving, after all Angela is my wife, but from the first time I read one of her stories "Anna's Wings" I knew that I had fallin in love with a woman who's since of place and abillity to convey through words the part of the human condition that are most important, our ability to love. For all of those that will be new to her work enjoy, you are in store for journies into the human heart with all of its complexities, pains and joys. Her work is not always an easy read, but it is always rewarding, filled with treasures of her imagination and the openness of her heart.

Reply
Bob Sachs link
5/13/2012 02:39:38 am

You're a lucky man, Robert. From the first time I heard her read, I knew she was special.

Reply



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    Angela's books

    The Great Gatsby
    4 of 5 stars
    The Great Gatsby
    by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    The Hunger Games
    4 of 5 stars
    The Hunger Games
    by Suzanne Collins
    The Sound and the Fury
    5 of 5 stars
    The Sound and the Fury
    by William Faulkner
    A Streetcar Named Desire
    5 of 5 stars
    A Streetcar Named Desire
    by Tennessee Williams
    The Sun Also Rises
    4 of 5 stars
    The Sun Also Rises
    by Ernest Hemingway

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  • HOME
  • BOOKS
    • Untethered >
      • Sample Chapter-UNTETHERED
    • Homeward >
      • Syllabus for HOMEWARD
    • The Light Always Breaks - A novel
    • When Stars Rain Down - A Novel
    • Drinking From A Bitter Cup - A Novel
    • House Repairs - Poetry
  • AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
  • INVITE ANGELA TO SPEAK
  • MEDIA KIT
  • CONTACT