As Rare as a Pearl

By Graneshia Talley and Gretchen Thomas

This is an anthology of poems by a mother and daughter. The mother (Gretchen) is more conservative with her words yet straight forward and the daughter (Graneshia) you will find to be more enclosed and ambiguous with hers. The daughter writes almost like she wants you to solve a mystery while her mom is writing a confession. Here, you will uncover secrets about both authors and about yourself. What the two have in common is the ability to have you ask yourself if that could be you. The mom you will see, writes to someone rather that flat out sharing her thoughts like her daughter does. She speaks to God, an estranged lover and to herself. The daughter shares experiences of her first love and first heartache, times of suicidal thoughts and destructive actions and the things that motivated her to live. This is a mother and daughters love story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475931914

Graneshia Talley

Gretchen was born in Louisiana relocated to Los Angeles, CA on 6th birthday. Gretchen is now a devoted Christian, wife, mother and grandmother who enjoys writing poetry and short stories. Graneshia, a student, writer and animal activist.

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As Rare as a Pearl

Gretchen Thomas

and

Graneshia Talley

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

AS RARE AS A PEARL

Copyright © 2012 by Gretchen Thomas and Graneshia Talley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-3190-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-3191-4 (ebk)

iUniverse rev. date: 10/19/2012

Contents

Foreword

MOTHER . . .

Lord Help Me

Grandpa

The One

What

In the Beginning

He is

Self

Prayer

Reflection

My Life

I Love Him

Eighteen (Half-Grown)

I say I Love You

It’s Time

Father . . . I Need You

Just For You

Moments

How great is our God?

When I Trust

DAUGHTER . . .

Stuck

Not Done Yet

Born to Win

Witness

My Ironic Love

Meant, Spent, Went

Under the Fig Tree

Just for a Time

To Let Myself Go

Today

I Hate Not Knowing

Why a Girl Needs her Father

Forgive My Selfishness

As Rare as a Pearl

My Happiness

Crime: Black, Sentence: 20 Generations

Unity

The Inner Thoughts of an Inner City Girl

The Inner Thoughts of an Inner City Girl (Cont’d)

In 100 Years

American

These Words

About the authors . . .

Foreword

As an author, an artist and one who lives for the essence of inspiration—I always keep an eye out for beauty and honest, raw talent. On the day I met Gretchen and Gree, I got a combination of both. In As Rare as a Pearl: A Mother & Daughter Love Story, I was moved by the honesty of their words and the compassion contained within their simple,