NASwrites
Additional Pieces...
Stand-alones...soon-to-be-released...selections from the upcoming book... even short essays...
Please share your thoughts once you've read them.
Graduation Dissertation
Four or more years past
Where do we go now?
I’m supposed to say Harvard, Vassier, Howard, UCONN
But maybe you’re going Upstate to milk cows
Many of you will find yourself at Nassau Community, but don’t
hang yourhead in shame
You made it here somehow
If it didn’t happen how you wanted, now is your chance
College is an experience, but it’s not meant for everyone
So why waste time making others happy?
You have to live your life – not me, not your mom, not your dad
Understand that this is more than a poetic dissertation – it’s a proclamation, a declaration, and a dedication…
to those bold enough to do what they love
As long as it’s positive, who cares about the material things
many speak of
You will always be a daughter or a son, but don’t be
miserable for anyone
I challenge you to be happy throughout your life,
It doesn’t matter if you’re a plumber, lawyer, doctor, or
housewife
You’re on your way to being grown, so why not start coming
into your own
– Ultimately the choice is yours
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
To My Sons
As you read Inside a Young Soul, you may feel slighted because you were not the intended audience for whom I chose to write it
But that doesn't mean you cannot learn from it
Use it as a light to see into the girls you encounter, use it as a tool to mend some of the relationships you
may have already floundered
And understand that YOU have not been ignored,
tossed aside
My grief for you is becoming harder to hide
When I close my eyes, it is YOU who haunts my mind
Know that I see YOU
Know that I grieve for YOU
Know that my heart bleeds for YOU
Know that my harsh tongue may whip you, but not to shame you like Massa used to; it lashes you to correct you (If you spare the rod, you spoil the child)
I'd rather it be me, than some correctional facility
I don't have to know you, to love you
I don't have to give birth to you, to mother you
And though it takes a village, I will no longer pillage
the privilege to rear you
For centuries sheroes have done what God knows we've had to in order to make a way for YOU
But the returning of the mantle is long overdue
There is only so much advice, guidance I that I can
provide
As I am a woman, I am not qualified to assist you in
the certain nuances of manhood
For the greater good, I gladly step aside...but always
KNOW
Know that the tears which flow are both of sorrow and
joy
Know that my heart rejoices as strong men emerge in
the place of young boys
Know that each of you, under the age of 21 is adopted
as my son!!!!