Aberjhani
Long-time advocate of principles and programs associated with PEN American Center and the Academy of American Poets. My newest books are: These Black and Blue Red Zone Days, Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind, and Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah. Other titles include: Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player, Journey through the Power of the Rainbow Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry, Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black; and THE RIVER OF WINGED DREAMS. In addition,the year 2018 marks the 10th anniversary of ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love with the artist Luther E. Vann.
My work as a visual artist can be found at: https://pixels.com/profiles/posteredc...
I'm currently working on several important projects, including a second edition of The American Poet Who Went Home Again. In addition, I have had the honor of serving as an editor for the Civil War Savannah Book Series published in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War. The first title in the series is Savannah Immortal City published February 1, 2011; and the second is Brokers Bankers and Bay Lane Inside the Savannah Slave Trade.
I don't recall a time since adolescence when I have not been involved in a deep relationship with writing, reading, and other forms of creative expression, which is why I remained so deeply involved with Creative Thinkers International for many years.
Prior to joining any of the above, I was born in Savannah, Georgia, eventually left to attend colleges around the country, and served in the U.S. Air Force for 8 years total.
I lucked out and got so furiously inspired in the course of producing some of my work that folks were kind enough to give me awards for it. These include the CONNECT SAVANNAH 2006 Readers Poll for Best Poet and Spoken Word Artist; the Choice Academic Title Award for "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance," (co-authored by Sandra L. West); the Thomas Jefferson Journalism Award; and the Freedom Foundation essay competition bronze medal.
The year 2007 marked my 10th publishing works in ESSENCE Magazine. I'm particularly happy about the fact that my "Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance" was listed by Black Issues Book Review as one of its “essential reference books for the home library.”
“You are the hybrids of golden worlds and ages splendidly conceived.”
“Even when muddy your wings sparkle bright wonders that heal broken worlds.”
“In the days when hyenas of hate suckle the babes of men, and jackals of hypocrisy pimp their mothers’ broken hearts, may children not look to demons of ignorance for hope.”
“Your pain is a school unto itself–– and your joy a lovely temple.”
“Love taught me to die with dignity that I might come forth anew in splendor. Born once of flesh, then again of fire, I was reborn a third time to the sound of my name humming haikus in heaven’s mouth.”
“Hearts rebuilt from hope resurrect dreams killed by hate.”
“In a world gushing blood day and night, you never stop mopping up pain.”
“Millions cheer the warriorspilling blood across the ringwhile the one who stands for peaceis ridiculed and shamed.Must hearts forever sufferfrom ignorance and greed?Can bombs heal our soulsor set our spirits free?”
“You were born a child of light’s wonderful secret— you return to the beauty you have always been.”
“If I say your voice is an amber waterfall in which I yearn to burn each day, if you eat my mouth like a mystical rose with powers of healing and damnation, If I confess that your body is the only civilization I long to experience… would it mean that we are close to knowing something about love?”
“In an age when nations and individuals routinely exchange murder for murder, when the healing grace of authentic spirituality is usurped by the divisive politics of religious organizations, and when broken hearts bleed pain in darkness without the relief of compassion, the voice of an exceptional poet producing exceptional work is not something the world can afford to dismiss.”
“This fire that we call Loving is too strong for human minds. But just right for human souls.”
“In a rich moonlit garden, flowers open beneath the eyes of entire nations terrified to acknowledge the simplicity of the beauty of peace.”
“Time (again, Time) like the soul, wears many faces, many bodies and climates and attitudes. The past is one face, the present a second and the future yet another.”
“The words ‘I Love You’ kill, and resurrect millions, in less than a second.”
“With my ninth mind I resurrect my firstand dance slow to the music of my soul made new.”
“What a lover’s heart knows let no man’s brain dispute.”
“Each star is a mirror reflecting the truth inside you.”
“What is this slow blue dream of living, and this fevered death by dreaming?”
“When a reader enters the pages of a book of poetry, he or she enters a world where dreams transform the past into knowledge made applicable to the present, and where visions shape the present into extraordinary possibilities for the future.”
“Peace is not so much a political mandate as it is a shared state of consciousness that remains elevated and intact only to the degree that those who value it volunteer their existence as living examples of the same... Peace ends with the unraveling of individual hope and the emergence of the will to worship violence as a healer of private and social dis-ease.”
“Most people are slow to champion love because they fear the transformation it brings into their lives. And make no mistake about it: love does take over and transform the schemes and operations of our egos in a very mighty way.”
“Love is our most unifying and empowering common spiritual denominator. The more we ignore its potential to bring greater balance and deeper meaning to human existence, the more likely we are to continue to define history as one long inglorious record of man’s inhumanity to man.”
“The act of writing itself is much like the construction of a mirror made of words. Looking at certain illuminated corners of or cracks within the mirror, the author can see fragments of an objective reality that comprise the physical universe, social communities, political dynamics, and other facets of human existence. Looking in certain other corners of the same mirror, he or she may experience glimpses of a True Self sheltered deftly behind a mask of public proprieties.”
“Passion presented with a greater challenge achieves a greater goal.-- from The Sexual Side of Spirituality”
“And now we step to the rhythm of miracles.--from The Light, That Never Dies”
“The image titled “The Homeless, Psalm 85:10,” featured on the cover of ELEMENTAL, can evoke multiple levels of response. They may include the spiritual in the form of a studied meditation upon the multidimensional qualities of the painting itself; or an extended contemplation of the scripture in the title, which in the King James Bible reads as follows: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” The painting can also inspire a physical response in the form of tears as it calls to mind its more earth-bound aspects; namely, the very serious plight of those who truly are homeless in this world, whether born into such a condition, or forced into it by poverty or war.”
“History is a hermaphrodite with many distinguished lovers. We are neither mysteries nor strangers but the living breath of revelation made flesh by the unrestrained desires of a free and universal love. Universal me. Universal you.”--from Past Present and Future are One”
“How many fears came between us?Earthquakes, diseases, wars where hellrained smoldering pus from skies made of winged death.Horror tore this world asunder.While inside the bleeding smokeand beyond the shredded weeping fleshwe memorized tales of infinite good.--from The History Lesson”