Wayfaring Stranger-Poems

By M. Rose Barkley

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0966676076
• ISBN13: 9780966676075
• Release Date: December 1998
• Publisher: Falcon Books
• Length: 83 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

goosebumps

I got this 'piece of art' the 25th. of December 1999.(yep, Christmas Day)The minute I started to read I was sold.I was touched in a very special way. Straight in the heart.I'm a black guy from Holland and I didn't understand everything at once, but I believe that every black man should own a copy of this piece of black gold. I believe the words in this book are very strong and very true.It gives me peace of mind in times when my live gets crazy.It helps me to put my life back into perspective.Thank you Rose Barkley

Wayfaring Stranger

M. Rose Barkley's poems speak with an intense rhythm. Her truths are direct and real; the music of this poetry carries forward straight to the soul. Sometimes we are brought to a new place with repeated lines, "I sit thinking/Blinking memories/of You/Blinking/Past images of you." Sometimes we are moved by single syllable beats, "Bird song/sing bird/as you melt/My soul away from this." And often Ms. Barkley brings us the excitement of a multi-syllabic rhythm, "Staring@ a 90 degree angle's impression/of the torchiere's light thrust upward/upon the green walls/like a horizontal sunrise bursting..." Singing with this virtuosic sense of rhythm, Ms. Barkley's brings her messages straight to us...messages of her search for herself, her identity as a black woman, her sense of who she is and her desire to right social injustice. Some of these poems are exhortations in the style of Lucille Clifton, "Go young children/and learn/Seek out/those things/which make your spirits/burn/Just go/Learn." And "Black Girl/Why is color/on your mind." Some are chants. I would love to hear the poet say this one, "I can squeeze/on a dollar/'til the joker drip/green/ If I gotta make it/holler-/Yeah, you know/what I mean." That poem is hollering to be heard.

Wayfaring Stranger, no stranger to the self.

Fearless and honest poetry that searches for truth of self, rejuvenation, release of inner core, spirit and soul. Not fearing her humanity, Ms. Barkley takes us on the path toward the "wayfaring stanger[s]" in ourselves. I love her strength and words. Inspirational.

An absolute MUST read!

Wayfaring Stranger captures the gamut of human emotion, from outrage to euphoria. This meritorious work is both insightful and profound and is very, very rewarding reading. M. Rose Barkley's book belongs in the library of anyone who's serious about their love for the written word. Buy it and read it!

M. Rose Barkley writes with breathtaking emotion.

"Wayfaring Stranger is what you're after when browsing the shelves for something great to read. Provoking and seducing the reader with its language, and, perhaps most of all, with its utter connection to reality. I would rank the author with the Nikki Giovanni's, Dr. Mayo Angelou's, and Langston Hughes' of the 21st Century. Finishing this book, left me a great since of essential viewpoint on today's society, and I look forward to M. Rose Barkley's next work."