Book Launch: The Nelson Mandela Poetry Collaboration.

This is an anthology that contains poems and artworks by some of the finest poets and artists in contemporary literature and arts. A work dedicated to the selfless MADIBA, a man who also showed the world what it means to forgive...
      Award-winning poets from different countries of the world, including the Editor of this club, have their voices on this work of history. The poets know one thing: if we don't speak while we are alive, we will die one day, without saying anything...

LAUNCH DATE: 30th April, 2014.

LOCATION: ONLINE, FACEBOOK( The Nelson Mandela Poetry Collaboration (Book Launch Party).

 Hosted by Kingstar Digital Publishing

Author of the Month: Soonest Nathaniel

  

Soonest Iheany Nathaniel aka SIN-Da-Poet is a graduate of mathematics and computer science from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo state, eastern Nigeria. He is a scientist that believes Albert Einstein would have done better as an artist. He is a renowned page and spoken-word poet who has become a household name in the corridors of poetry in Nigeria.

He currently holds the title of Poet of the year from the just concluded Korea-Nigeria Poetry Festival; one of many such titles and awards bagged over the years. He has been published in Kalahari Review, Sentinel Nigeria, Ilume and many other international journals of art. His first collection of both written and spoken poetry is billed for publication in the 3rd quarter of the year. You can catch him playing soccer or acting when he's not weaving words.


 First, we want to congratulate you Soonest for your recent award. How has the journey been for you poetically? 
 Thanks for the felicity. The journey has been rough, tough, tasking, demanding; but above all rewarding. We bless God.

When did you start writing poetry? 
 I hope I won't sound cocky if I say I was born with poetry.

Were you taught to write poetry, or you just started to write words until you found the poet you now are? 
  I was not taught poetry, I had the poet in me and I used personal study to bring him out. The muse was put in my heart divinely and my passion proclaimed it forth from my mouth.

Do you think that African and Nigerian poets have inspired this generation of poets? 
 A lot of poets from this generation do not have proper acquaintance with the older generation; at best what they know of them is just shallow. This generation has been acculturated, but even the poetic culture imbibed was not digested properly. A lot of the fledgling poets do not read, and if they read they do not study, a proper mentor-ship is lacking, hence the emergence of many non-grounded poets and watery poetry.

Have you published any of your collections? 
 I don't have a personal anthology published yet, but I have been published in different magazines and journals within the country, continent and across the borders. In as much as  I desire to have a collection of my own, I must say that I don't want to rush, I want whatever I offer to be befitting, up to standard anywhere in the world.

 You are seen as one of Nigeria's biggest poets, how have you been able to make this happen?
 Wow! That is a big one, I am yet another emerging poet, still honing my craft. I guess with God and handwork, one can get to the peak. Ardent study and continuous practice is the key, one must thrive to be enshrined in this art; like I say always, to me poetry is a religion and I serve in spirit and in truth.

Where do you see poetry and the spoken word in Nigeria in years to come?
 Poetry and spoken-word will thrive, in fact its already thriving but I fear that it will be bastardized in the sense that every Tom, Dick and Harry will parade himself as poet and offer anything in the name of poetry.

How challenging is it to be a spoken word artist?
 Spoken-word is quite challenging, for me, I always want to ensure that the word spoken will still read as poetry when it appears on paper, I always want to keep my identity as a crusader of good poetry. I fear that the commercialization of spoken-word might cause many to play to the gallery thereby losing the essence and potency of poetry.
Committing the poems to memory is another trouble with spoken-word, but when you can do by heart you have the key to your audience heart. You pass the message clearly with fineness and that is the beauty of the art.

How many awards have you won, and how do feel getting such rewards?
 By His grace, I have many accolades, many awards and many notable mentions. It feels really great to be rewarded for your works we artist love rewards it spurs you to do more,and more I am prepared to do to achieve greater success.

Do you deliberately make use of poetic devices when writing your poetry, or do they come naturally as you write?
 Poetic devices make up poetry, sometimes I employ them deliberately, other times the muse speaks and I write what the voice in my head is saying.

Where do you plan to see Soonest Nathaniel the poet, in the coming years?
 In the coming years I hope to see myself as a voice to reckon with, published, well read with works that would impact this world and cause even the addle bones of old brigadiers to wriggle in their earthen beds. I want to be remembered!

What is your message for aspiring poets that want to get to where you now are?
 Eat verbs drink metaphors; digest the muse. Sleep in meters, dream in rhymes; bask in the rhythm. let it flow, imageries cascading down in the symbols. Breathe it! Live it! Be it!


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Poetry: Dwayne Rankin.

The Lion's Roar  by Dwayne Rankin Deafening was the Lions roar. In strength and pride he stands. Terror was the way he rules. As King through out the lands. For miles around he could be heard, Letting known his wrath. Roaring out his challenge, To all who crossed his path. Majestic was his stature. And fear he did instill. Waiting for the time to come When he'd make his kill. Lying hidden on the grassy plains. Silently he stalks his prey. Patiently waiting for his chance To claim his feast this day. Sated now he sleeps the day, Lying in the shade of trees. Waiting for the night to come, To then do as he please. Once again he makes his way, In his throat a growl. Letting all around the Plain Know he's on the prowl. All creatures know that fearsome sound, Knows death is at the door. They know the King is getting close, When they hear the Lions Roar! The Wolf Pack's On The Prowl.   In the darkened forest deep, In silence now they run. Like shadowed ghosts through forest, sweep. Their hunting's now begun. Gray shapes seen there moving fast, With yellow eyes aglow. T'ward that scent they've caught at last, Through all those woods they flow. On they run all through the night, With stamina they go. Hunger gnaws their bellies tight, But never do they slow. Saliva drips from hanging tongues, As they pick up speed. Gasping forth from burning lungs, But still in strength proceed. Then in their sight their prey is found, A bit more speed they find. With slashing fangs their prey is down, To death it's now resigned. With bellies full they howl aloud, At that full moon there. Sitting beneath the moon light's shroud, Their mournful howls share. Soon they are off to hunt again, In joy they go out. Hunting through dark wooded glen, Their strength and speed they tout. In the village there is no doubt, They hear that mournful howl. They all know now whose about, The wolf pack's on the prowl.

 

Touch the Sky.

Reach on up and touch the sky
And feel the warm sun passing by.
Grasping firm the joys of life,
Your spirit then will soar oh high.

Bask within those radiant rays,
All throughout those warm spring days.
Let your eyes then linger long;
Upon those dewy flowers gaze.

Breathe in deep the fresh clean air
And see what God has made so fair.
Looking then from high you’ll see
Beauty found beyond compare.

Listen to the soft winds sigh
And hear the bird’s soft cooing cry.
Reach on up your hands so high;
Reach on up and touch the sky.

The Hidden Vale

I took a walk alone one day
Upon a mountain trail.
On past the creek, across the woods,
Into a hidden vale.

A place where all the winds blew soft
Heard whisp’ring through the trees.
A place where all the song birds sang
Their songs of joy and peace.

Fragrant was the air I breathed
From all the flowers, fair.
With petals soft and delicate,
In colors rich and rare.

I walked upon the soft green grass,
‘Midst streams found pure and cold
I found contentment there for me
With worries put on hold.

I ate the fruit from off the trees
And washed then in a stream.
I wondered far into the night,
As if within a dream.

I spent the night beneath the stars
Upon a bed of grass.
And in the morn I drank my fill
From pools clear as glass.

In sorrow then I knew t’was time
I left that hidden vale.
I took that lonely walk back home
Upon that mountain trail.

Back to my house where I then lived
Within a mundane place.
But then at night I’d dream of this;
That vale filled with grace.

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Dwayne Rankin was born in Yakima, Washington USA on September 9,1954 and grew up in Cashmere, Washington, the center of the Wenatchee River Valley. 

Surrounded by  the North Cascade Mountain Range with its many scenic  creeks, rivers and high mountain lakes, he grew up loving the outdoors spending much time hiking and walking through the forests of pines and cedars that grew all around there.

Married now with 2 teenage children, a boy of 17 and a daughter of 14, he is kept busy working to provide for their physical as well as their spiritual needs bringing them up in a Christian home.

He started writing poetry in high school for some assignments for class but never pursued it much until about 7 years ago when a friend of his turned 50 years old.. And in penning the poem "Turning Fifty", he rediscovered his enjoyment of writing and has been busy since that time.

He joined the Voicesnet.com web site poetry family in  2010 and has been writing steadily since that time..

He has one book published: "Walking" which is available via the internet at such places a Amazon.com and many other internet book stores. It is also available at the place where it was published, Publish American vai the internet as well there.

He is currently working on collecting enough poems for a second book of seasonal poem of nature. He does this in between the time he is working in the fruit industry  at Blue Star Growers, a fruit packing house that packs pears and apples of various kinds.

Art: Photography by Solomon Elohor Abe.

Solomon Elohor Abe is a fast rising Nigerian Photographer. He is the Creator of Aspire, an African photography movement, promising to be where Kelechi Amadi Obi and T.Y. Bello have printed their names, in the world of photography. He has featured in exhibitions in Africa, and has been telling stories through the miracle of the lens.
The maiden issue of Pearls Magazine interviewed him, as he tells us about his projects. Below are some of his works:

To read Abe Elohor's Interview with Pearls Magazine on December 2013, download the e-magazine, by following the BUY MAGAZINE menu on this blog.

Book Review: Ghosts of San Francisco by Mord McGhee.

Mord McGhee’s Ghosts of San Francisco is an action-packed, terrifying thriller of what very well could be our own technological future. Death dealing gang members with implants and enhancements that make them nigh impossible to kill, complete takeovers of the private sector by large companies, murder, betrayal…Ghosts of San Francisco has it all.

It has a unique tone in that some of the story is told through recorded transcripts, and then takes you on a wild ride through what actually happened with brilliant character development. Just enough of the world is given to you through the story, and then leaves much to the imagination—which helps create a more horrific image than what you are actually given.

The best part for me? The fact that the main characters were a male/female team, but there was no romantic subplot detracting from the constant action of the novel. Nor is there any overt emphasis on the fact that the female lead is “something special because she’s such-and-such kind of woman.” Not even a tiny bit, which was amazing.

If you want to get a glimpse into where our technologically-based future where no one is safe, then Ghosts is definitely for you. (And it’s the first in a series!)




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About the Author

Mord McGhee lives in Pittsburgh, PA and is an avid reader. He writes SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, and General Fiction. He is a retired musician(ASCAP)"

Poetry: Bada Yusuf Amoo.

 

 

 

POVERTY 

 Poverty,

You murdered my dream
And now I am chasing nightmares
Of hungry monsters!

Poverty,
You know thin flesh covers my belly
I only know the softness lying inside
See, I am a saint who has no tale to tell
Even If I tell, the listeners will not listen
For flash of fears will taint my words
I will be slow like a house rat doing ablution

Poverty,
You made my ribbon clip my thin flesh
Into transparency of my ribbon behind my flesh
Like that dead mouse in the science laboratory

Poverty
What would I sacrifice to reject your friendliness?
My father died in the forest
When hunting for meat to make our dinner
The forest beasts ate his body
My mother died at the river
And was buried by the riverside as tradition says

Poverty,
I am but a saint, a man,
Living with you in a noiseless crowd of mansions
Where the villagers whisper in dumb voices

I only dream of striking thunder
I only dream of a coffin without a grave
Hmm!

Poverty,
You ‘must’ friend of this saintly man
Your friendship will only deny me titles 

My name will ever remain the same! 

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Bada Yusuf Amoo is a Nigerian Poet. His poems features in Light and Dark International Collaboration, 2011, Upcoming Voices, 2012 (Society of Young Nigerian Writers). First shortlisted in House of Hits Project 2010, Naija Stories publication dedicated to DANA Air Crash Victims, Silent Voices (Poetic voices from young poets of Nigeria and Zimbabwe among others.

Book Promotion: Callie's Story by Shelley Terrell

Blurb: She's a young woman with a deadly secret and nowhere to hide. He will do anything to keep her silent. Callie has no money, no family and nowhere to go. Guided by her unique ability, she tries to make her escape. She knows he’s following her and he’s getting close. She'll have to hide in the woods, but she’s afraid. She’s been warned to stay away from the woods. Driven by her fear of the man chasing her, she runs into the most dangerous part of the woods; the part where the hermit lives.

Buy this book here: Amazon.com: Rag Dolls: Callie's Story eBook: Shelley Terrell: Kindle Store

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AUTHOR'S BIO: Shelley Terrell grew up in Chouteau Oklahoma where she went to school until her parents moved to Tulsa. She stayed in Tulsa where she worked as an EMT and volunteered for DVIS until she met and married the love of her life, Ronnie. After they married, she moved to Stilwell Oklahoma where she now lives with her husband, their youngest son, Damien and their Jack Russell Terrier Milo.

Poetry: Christena AV Williams

 In three words

I could try to look up a thousand words to express my love

I could quote every Romantic verse

I could induce you into a fantasy and every adventure

Like pirates, I could travel the ends of the earth trying to find another

Pearl like you but I chose

Three words to reflect my moon light Heart

I could try to impress you with different languages

Welcome me warmly in three words I say

I Love You.

Talk Shakespeare to me

Thouest my love

Flattering like a sparrow

Chirp and sing melodies

Then thou art take this love

Let us travel like travelling musicians

Breaking down China’s wall

Rebuilding Berlin

Asleep we lie in the king’s palace

Take this heart

As if, we were Romeo and Juliet

Underlying passion

If we must die

I wish to die in love

Holding you with clutch hands

Like sinking titanic

Whisper

Soft

In my winter’s heart

Slowly

Take me into a trance

Like a summer’s night dream.

Author's Biography

Christena AV Williams is a young Jamaican poet & Author of newly published collection of poetry, “Pearls among Stones” http://www.blurb.com/b/4148458-pearls-among-stones. She is a radical thinker and this poet is in international anthologies, literary sites and the local newspaper Gleaner. She can be contacted via email williams.christena@yahoo.com

Article: The Powers of Poetry.

The condensation of poetry makes it add weight to theme, language and the expression of the poet. What poetry is, must carry the elements or powers that makes a poem antique. Imagery, rhythm and sounds are the major elements that keeps the taste and strength of a poem.

Some poets and scholars see imagery as the setting of a poem, whether physical or abstract, and, that looks right in their own belief. But imagery is more than that. In fact, it’s the soul of poetry. If it’s missing, the poem lacks salt, it has no enjoyment!

Metaphors, similes, language or diction and hyperbole, creates imageries in a poem. Imagery helps to create the exhibition-house on the mind of the readers of poetry.
Sometimes, the experiences of the poet gathers a reservoir of images on the heart of that poet. The poet with experiences may not lack the power of imagery… Imagery stands as the greatest of the powers that makes a poem.

 Another element is rhythm. Rhythm is like the waters that push the ship to its destination. It’s the movement of stressed and unstressed syllables or sounds on a line of poetry.
It keeps the heartbeat of a poem, and graces it with music and beat like a flowing stream down a valley. Rhythm flows the lyric of a poem, adding its own strength to spark more enjoyment of the poem. It simply gives a poem that musical touch, and harmonic beauty. It’s the element of rhythm that can turn a poem to a song.

Rhyme or sounds have the charms of rhythm, and supports rhythm. It’s the strength of sounds or rhythm that has remained the Japanese Haiku in the eternal state of antiquity, despite coming from the long distances of masters like Basho, Buson and Issa.

 The haiku’s finest function is to distill a powerful message with few sounds. Elements like assonance, repetition, refrain, rhyme scheme and alliteration,also keeps the music of poetry.
However, it’s with time, writing and study that makes better poetry.




 (c). 2014. Pearls Literary Club.

Book Review : The Impossible is Possible by John Mason.

TITLE: The Impossible is Possible
AUTHOR: John Mason
PAGES: 197
PUBLISHER: ORIENT PAPERBACKS, 2009.
TAGS: Self development, Inspirational, Motivational.

The Impossible is possible.

Dr. Mike Murdock commented on John Mason: “When John Mason speaks, millions listen…”  No wonder Mason’s books have sold over 1.3 million copies, and have been translated in twenty different languages. The impossible is possible is a book that remains evergreen because of its usefulness to both the present and coming generations of people, who must be faced with the complexities of life!
His blend of inspirational language, and quotes from prominent people who have crossed their own hurdles, makes the book a must-read. From the first nugget; ‘Safety Last’, to the last one, he takes the reader into an obvious journey of life, and the attitude to withstand the storms life must throw at us.

In the introduction, John Mason made it clear that men and women, who overcome the impossibilities of yesterday, are people of possibilities today, through the first sentence that goes thus; “almost everything we enjoy today was impossible yesterday”. 

As the reader continues to read, he or she will find the book impossible to put down. Because one will begin to be inspired, counseled, and fortified to try a new project that may have been considered impossible.

Quoting the likes of Dr. Mike Murdock, George Bernard Shaw, Martin Luther King Jnr, D.L.Moody, Billy Graham, Oswald Chambers, and William Shakespeare, including hundreds of great men and women, Poets, Writers, Thinkers and many who succeeded in their fields. His blend of quotes and simple prose makes...

 The full article was published on pearls e-magazine, on our April 2014 edition. To get the full review and buy the e-magazine, send a message to magazinepearls@gmail.com, and send $2  and email to the Paypal of the Editor of Pearls Literary Club here: dykegift2grace@yahoo.com.

Book Review: Two Gone...Still Counting by Oyindamola Affinnih.

Time and change have contributed to the gradual extinction of some beliefs that the African cultures held strongly. But some still hang on the thread, while others have persisted and stood insurmountable by foreign cultures, especially the taboos. Two Gone…Still Counting remains in the latter, because such beliefs and superstitions, as seen in the novel, have endured to this time. Amani, the heroine of the novel, struggles with fate far beyond her reach to conquer!
Despite the faith that moves her to conquer her fate, her efforts ends in futility!  And the jinx that troubles her seem to hide on the horizon of life. Her story throughout the novel can best be captured in stanza four of Karen Connelly’s poem “The Darkness Above Mandalay,” from her collection, “THE BORDERS SURROUNDS US,” (2OOO); the first and second lines of that stanza reads thus:  “…She wants to say love
but the word is spoiled…”


Amani’s journey to get love returns the dark side of falling in love!  ‘Mother is supreme,’ is a fact that Africans do not compromise. Mrs. Bashorun, Amani’s mother tries to see the end of the curse, by going to perform the  ritual that breaks the jinx, which is going naked to the market to placate for her mistake. She dies later, and , Amani is alone to find answers to her own puzzle. But Mrs. Bashorun’s persistence to see that the curse is  broken, shows a mother’s love for her child. It shows there are mothers who will go anywhere to secure the future of their children!

Again, the betrayal by uncle Kolade and his wife Mama Ibeji, is an eye-opener once again to the fact that, we should not give pass-marks to anyone until they prove they deserve to be trusted. This why it’s so risky to leave one’s children to others, without confirming the angel or beast that sits in them. The culture of taking over the properties that should go to the bereft, is brought to fore by the Writer. And,  I believe this is what literature should correct! It’s in the society, and this inhumane culture is seen as normal, but this one is left to the government to debate what is just!


Furthermore, beliefs one holds sternly could happen, since life itself is spiritual, and man is a spirit person. Mr. Bashorun, Amani’s father, cautions his wife not to believe the myth and its consequence, but it’s too late, because Amani begins to have nightmares that suggests her believe in the myth has taken root.

In the same collection by Karen Connelly, “THE BORDERS SURROUNDS US,” in the poem titled “The Dancer,” the first two lines on the fourth stanza reads thus:    “…In our becoming
we are broken…”

After the death of their parents, Areef(Amani’s only brother), and Amani, follows the path life chooses for them. They struggle to exist and adjust to a life now too strange for them. I almost thought the two gone were their parents, because those two (Mr. and Mrs. Bashorun)  does not make it into the future of the story! But Areef and Amani are still counting through broken times, and hoping with long-suffering, and they adjust to survive.

Conclusively, although the myth and its curse persists, and takes Amani’s husbands, Oyindamola has weaved a prose that reveals another part life brings…Especially a mystery that surrounds one’s existence; and a myth a people may have not compromised, but with this project, she has given the world a reason to keep counting on her, to bring more stories that will release memories that will not be gone!

Dike Dyke Williams.
facebook.com/dikedykewilliams.

Note: you can see more on this Novel by visiting the Author’s website(www.oyindamolaaffinnih.com).