What I Know...: Poems of Life

By Y.B. Taylor

What I KnowPoems of Life takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotions, experiencing laughter, tears, a-ha moments, comprehension and rage. The poems provide a glimmer of being black in America, the comprehensive charge of being a woman, and the challenge of facing and surviving the unknown. There are poems addressing the abomination of slavery, the inequity of Jim Crow, the fight for civil rights and integration as well as the gloriousness of election night 2008. There are poems that will bring a smile to readers lips as they travel down memory lane and revisit Nadinola, Dixie Peach, doo-wopping and Ed Sullivan, which were staples in many black neighborhoods. Based on written and oral history, current events, hearsay and actual experiences of the author and others known to the author, these poems provide discussion points, especially for younger readers born from mid-1960s and later.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467051606

Y.B. Taylor

Y. B. TAYLOR resides in Richmond, Virginia, the Civil Wars second and most permanent capital of the Confederacy. She was born the same year as the U.S Supreme Courts landmark decision, Brown v. the Board of Education. In 1966, she was one of six black students who integrated Albert H. Hill Junior High. As a result of legislated busing, her last two years of senior high school were spent in the newly annexed area of the city of Richmond. At Huguenot High, she claimed a place in the schools history as its first black varsity cheerleader, first black homecoming queen and first black to have a regular column, Yonnie Bees Bag, in the student-run newspaper. Y.B. Taylor received her B.A. from the University of Virginia, 19-years after Walter N. Ridley became the universitys first African American to earn a degree and 4-years after undergraduate admissions was fully open to women. A temperamental writer, she enjoys expressing herself in written words. History, personal challenges and experiences as well as stories told to her by older family members and friends are reflected in her writing.

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© 2009 Y.B. Taylor. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 4/8/2009

ISBN: 978-1-4389-7007-3 (sc)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

MY WAY

WHAT I KNOW

not my ‘AMERICA’

COLOR ME ANGRY --

IMAGES FROM SLAVERY (Hurricane Katrina - 2005)

STRESS FREE

LESSONS UNLEARNED

BECAUSE I SAY ... I AM

I AM BLACK

THE APOCALYPSE IS NOW

SURROUNDED

UNTITLED I

UNTITLED II

I KNEW YOU WHEN ...

RESTLESS ...

AND SO I WRITE

TOMORROW MAY NOT BE JUST ANOTHER DAY

YOUR RHYTHMS

WRONG EXPECTATIONS

THE LAST CALL

RENAISSANCE WOMAN

STARTING TODAY ...

CONTROL

DIRECTION

QUIET!

STOLEN

second class

YES, WE CAN!

MY MOMMA AIN’T BLACK

MOST BEAUTIFUL

BANE OF OUR EXISTENCE

MY QUEST

MY COFFEE

ODE TO AN AFRO-MASTER™

FACETED

IT’S A COLORED THANG!

NATIVE SON

LADY OF THE PEN

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To those who have been there and done that!

To those too young to remember!

To those who don’t understand, but want to!

INTRODUCTION

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I discovered that writing poetry provides a release from the emotional rollercoaster, stress and sometimes-sleepless nights of everyday life. I find writing to be a more satisfying and fulfilling release than any artificial and addictive drink or drug.

My creative ramblings come from a plethora of sources; my family, I am a black woman, who is also a wife and mother; memories of a segregated childhood, a white restaurant owner would not permit use of his restroom, so I wet myself; first exposures to integration, the convenient memory loss of a white classmate as she served the ball in 4-squares to the popular children’s counting game, Eeny, meeny, miney, moe and the high school homeroom teacher who questioned the legitimacy of my residence; as well as having found myself to be the only fly in the ointment in various work environments.

These poems are based on my personal experiences and the historical experiences of black people. Hopefully, the inclusion of the introductory quotes by notable African Americans has tempered the tone of the more caustic