VICKSBURG, Miss., June 8, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- "You opened your pod and let fly in the wind seeds of Hope."
In this new book of poetry, the verses and metaphors flow with optimism, inner strength and hope. Awarded poet Harrison Havard Jr. has penned a new collection of poems for the battered soul in Black Whispers and Prayers. Havard, who bagged the Catholic Press Association Award, describes his latest work as a mirror of his own transition from an angry young black man to that of someone who has come to know God and the Law of his Love. In 1975, the Catholic Press awarded the poet's series of four poems the first place in poetry, noting that Havard's poems in Master's Work had a structure that was "masterfully designed."
Havard's new poetry selection transcends thirty years of the poet's life. The anger and anguish of a black young man during the Civil Rights Era are penned into protest poems that point out to us the brutality and injustice inflicted on the black race. Being black, Havard himself endured discrimination and the overwhelming frustration of his race. But his faith in a Higher Being has undoubtedly changed the poet, a transition that is reflected in poems expressing hope even in times of tribulations. The line above was lifted from his new poem entitled Seed of Hope that pays tribute to a brave black man who rose from the poverty and oppression that he was born into, Malcolm. In Black Endurance, the poet concludes, "As long as there is a reason not to fall, This will supply the strength to stand."
The angry young man has turned his feelings and experience into a potent message of faith, endurance, and hope. With his gift of verses, Havard shows that "the human spirit can overcome real negatives and spring hope eternal." For him, this faith and hope came with the heavy price of discrimination and injustice. The poems in this new book were originally intended as a legacy for his children, but he now shares to the whole world.
About the Author
Harrison Havard Jr. was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1939. He attended Saint Mary's Catholic School, graduating from high school in 1957. He then pursued at Jackson State University a degree in speech communications education. Now a retired postal employee and classroom teacher, Havard resides in Vicksburg with his wife Mattye, a former school librarian.
Black Whispers and Prayers by Harrison Havard, Jr.
Selected Poems - Protest Poems - Prayers/Reflections
Publication Date: November 24, 2003
Trade Paperback; $20.99; 108 pages; 1-4134-0770-6
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