STILL STANDING: VOLUME ONE
I'M TRYING TO GET YOUR ATTENTION!!!
Greetings Friends!
The wait is over. It is finally here! Ninety-three pages of intensity! A storytelling journey through poetry all in one, Still Standing: Volume One by La Shan Knox, ($11.95, ISBN-978-0-9795821-0-3) published by Elle Nubia Press. From celebrity groupies to issues affecting our youth, to the miscommunication disorder of male and female relationships, Knox delivers in full range leaving the mind with questions, challenging the heart to do better.
I got this headache called stress. It throbs like a drumstick hitting the center rhythm of a drum Bills past due Mama needs a water heater and the selfish moods of humankind have elevated it to distress Got this Korean lady parked across from me staring at this brown girl with locs as if I’m the enemy of her pain“You ain’t got nothing that I want,” says the fire in my dark brown eyesBut my sympathy kicks in and touches my compassion‘ Cause she may be having the same bulk of pain as I - “The Headache of Distress”
Sex. Abstinence. Love. Pain. Poverty. Social Injustice. Music Videos - are just a few subjects that are woven into compelling themes that allows the reader to travel a journey that is truly heart-felt.
“When I was growing up, I don’t remember people going on a job or on a school campus randomly shooting and killing innocent people. My heart goes out to children growing up during these times. It just goes to show that you don’t know what a person has endured during the day or what they are going through, but no matter what there is always someone worse off.”
Although Knox may encompass hardcore verses, couplets, and haikus, she draws some of her most raw dialects in the subjects of love that has been lost, gained, and lost all over again.
In the poem entitled, “June 19,” Knox captures the simplicity of a kiss:
It was June 19 at 6:05 p.m. and I kissed the lips of sweet morningSent my mind to questions and places it had yet to travelI could wake up to those kisses for a lifetimeMy eyes closed without thoughtAnd there I was mesmerized by a simple, sweet, subtle kiss that I wanted to kiss again
“There were times when I felt like crawling under a rock or I couldn’t wait until the day ended to start all over again. But one thing I learned is that no matter what situation or circumstance, I was still standing. I persevered and kept the faith, and that’s what I would love for people to understand through my book.”
