THE AUTHOR AND POET

It is easy for one to understand why becoming a published author and poet was not something I initially set out to accomplish. After all, I come from a background of a child who could not read at age fourteen and was deemed unable to cope with mainstream education. As late as secondary school, the word ‘Seen’ was normally scribed at the bottom of my writing. In all fairness to my teachers, while I was in fact ‘writing’, my work was something they could not read. Nevertheless, all of that is behind me now.

You might be presently wondering what started off my writing. Simply put, I started writing because I had much to share. Then again, in a busy world where everyone seems to be rushing around, listening time was and still is often limited. I was compelled to write as I found myself being drawn into deeper reflection about the thoughts, ideas and concepts that were on my mind.
Writing has now become an integral part of my life and everything I write about matters to me. I never thought of writing as being a therapeutic activity until it connected me with myself. My experience is that writing really takes one on a journey through the subconscious mind. I write to inspire retrospection and change. I write because I am ushered into a zone where I become fascinated with the life, beauty and power of written words. Writing connects my thoughts with language and I find that there is something gratifying about the use of words to invent contributions to society. I only wish that I started writing long before but I am a great believer that life brings with it, its seasons.

My collection of poems, I’M THINKING… was published in 2013. I did not write this book with the intention of having it published. I wrote because I wanted to express my inner feelings about my then present circumstances. These thoughts were articulated in my first creation, ‘The Cold Prickled Floor’. Having written this poem, I wrote many others as I was taken on a backward journey where, I met my young self, Michaellee James, the seven year old, still seated, sobbing in the classroom. Because of my difficult years at school, I had subconsciously left her there as it was the easier thing to do.

When I considered the timelessness of the situations captured in I’M THINKING… I wanted to share its content. Publishing my collection of poems afforded me the opportunity to extend my audience to people I am unlikely to meet during my lifetime.

I have since written my second book, Trees Grow Over Fences, a story of my challenging education journey. This title was recently released in March 2017.

I have not yet decided a title for my third book which is scheduled to be released by July 2018.