About Me

It was probably inevitable that I'd grow up to be a poet. My mother would recite poetry and sing "the old songs" (now called "the spirituals") while working around the house. One day when I was about 8 years old, I asked Mama about the verses and rhymes she often said to us. She pulled a book down from top of her bookshelf and handed it to me: it was an original 1913 edition of The Collected Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, which she'd won in a Paul Laurence Dunbar recitation contest when she was a girl. Mama then proceeded to recite Dunbar's Sympathy and In the Morning from memory! That's when I decided that one day I'd write a poem that someone like my mother would memorize and recite to her little girl. And I did.

I've written several, in fact. Today, I am an itinerant poet, participating in readings and performances throughout the Denver area. I've garnered a small following and several of my poems, including Metamorphosis, Signs of a Better World, and They Slice the Air, are regularly requested for special events.

Of course, it has taken me a little while - nearly 40 years. Life intervened and led me in several directions, far away from poetry. However, a chance meeting with like-minded poet Dr. Bob Boyle ~ a man who would become my dear friend and mentor ~ would help me embrace my love of poetry and discover a love for performance. In 2002, I entered the University of Denver as a "non-traditionally-aged" full-time student, to study poetics with Bin Ramke and Eleni Sikelianos. I was awarded a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing of Poetry in 2004.

While at DU, I also met Dr. Arthur Jones, founder of The Spirituals Project, an organization dedicated to the preservation and proliferation of those very spirituals Mama used to sing around the house. With the guidance of Dr. Jones and of Dr. Barbara Wilcots, my senior thesis, Sankofa, Sasa, and Zamani: The Ongoing Influence of the Spirituals on African American Poetry received high praise and was awarded the Cook Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis. What a tribute to Mama!

These days I create and perform original poetry and custom rituals for individuals and organizations to commemorate special events. I have received commissions from the University of Denver, The Veterans of Hope Project, The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, The Spirituals Project, and others, and I can often be found conduct writing and poetry workshops with Denver area youth and adult programs.

The commission from The Spirituals Project resulted in the creation of my dramatic epic poem, They Slice the Air, which traces the history, use, and ongoing healing power of Black spirituals throughout time. My performance of this piece became the centerpiece of the 4th Annual Spirituals Project Gala in 2006, and the title cut of the Spirituals Project Choir's latest CD in 2007. I now serve as Program Administrator and Poet-in-Residence with The Spirituals Project.

A rich collaboration with pianist/composer Pamela Weng and poet Dr. Bob Boyle has resulted in three CDs of original poetry and music: Spirit Rising, Solace: A Journey on the Path of Grief, and EathTones II. I recently participated in a live performance of African Amber, an exquisite musical setting of They Slice the Air that is featured on Pamela's EarthTones II.