The book of poetry and prose is an outgrowth of what my mother and I shared: she carrying the child; the child receiving all from being carried. When she ate, I ate. What she drank, I drank. When she thought, I had to be part of the process of development - broken off and absorbed. It is true! I believe that something passes between the two, mother and child, to which fathers cannot relate. They beam over the result. She beams over the process. This, I believe, helps shape the child; molds, and to a degree, determines what the child may become. I'm glad it's like that! Her poems are the expressions of what she saw, what she experienced in life, and what she became in life. The poems were her foundations - upon her foundation of God and what He meant to her throughout her lifetime. The poetry she wrote, she wanted to share with any reader the greatness of her salvation and her experiences. Those writings are entered here as she, the author, wrote and as she wanted to share with the readers. I believe she succeeded. I, as her son, love poetry because of what it says to me. The almost mystical reasoning found in rhyme and prose is, for me the writer, the residue of the umbilical cord. So please enjoy. We both hope (she up there, me here with you) that in these pages, you may find laughter, peace, introspection, a piece of yourself. Also our hope is that you will come to know an appreciation for the Creator, and a love of poetry and prose.
About the Author: My name is Edward Blair, commonly referred to as Ed. Poetry has been a kind of therapy for me for many, many years. The first poem that gave me an impetus to even start writing was Thomas Gray's "Elegy in a County Graveyard." I love the rhythm of the cadence, the meaning behind the prose that must be searched out, and the interpretations that are to be drawn from them by the readers. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, a city that cultivated in me a love for candor and quick wit. Having grown up for the most part in a housing project called Pruitt-Igoe (or as we called the 'jects'), I became captivated by the hectic city life. This was a life that was fast and unrelenting, where everything was bargained for, sometimes even life itself. My poetry reflects, through a prism, these experiences of and through my life. As I witness something, I write about it. I try to give it purpose, but never a meaning that the reader must do.