Love Notes in Erratic Tones: Melancholy & Melodies

By Shirley Houston

The authors first book, Beauty, Poetry & Flow: Birthed in Travail, chronicles her hajj from tragedy to triumph as an abuse survivor. Through Love Notes in Erratic Tones: Melancholy & Melodies, the author takes us on a free-flowing flight through all aspects of love and relationships in a raw, passionate, and realistic way. The book presents heartbreak and healing, emptiness and ecstasy in the authors own unique voice and style. Ending on a positive note, the book moves us seamlessly from negative to positive and examines feelings weve all felt at one time or another.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503582927

Shirley Houston

The author was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, but raised primarily in the Bronx, New York. She has six children: five boys and one girl. She also has three granddaughters and one grandson. She says, “Because of them I am patient and strive to live in the moment instead of waiting for the ‘perfect time’ to relax and enjoy life.” In addition to being a licensed minister, she holds a BA in government/public administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NYC and an MBA in finance from the Long Island University Graduate School of Business in Brooklyn, New York. To shore up her writing skills, she is currently pursuing a post baccalaureate certificate in writing from the University of California Berkeley Extension. Today the author is a poet, writer, spoken-word artist, motivational speaker, and aspiring fifty-plus petite fashion model.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Shirley Beauty Houston.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/01/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

701825

Contents

Reciprocity

Midnight’s Door

My Bane

Shackled

Streams

Suddenly

White Chalk Line

Enough

Cleansing Rains

Angel

Changes

Emptiness

I Release You

Bipolar

Confusion

Ebb

Light and Love

I Will Love You

Awaken Me

Musical Fantasy

No Fear

One Flesh

Midnight Lullaby

Primrose Song

Sentient

Serenade

Speak, Poet

Still I Need You

Submerged

Sunrise

Surrendered

The Artist’s Rendition

We Are One

Without You

Word Fest

You and I

Breach

You Are the Sun

He Inspires Me

In the Shadow of Mountains

Rejoicing

I Give to You My Love

Heavy

Can You

Cascading Beams

Epiphany

Heart Beat

You Are Power

Forever

Cover

Love Me

Anoint Me

Belong to Me

Caress

Celestial Vibe

Courageously, I Love You

Divine Libations

Dream

Knowing

Duet

Elysian Fields

Enraptured

Lovely Emissions

Fair Pen

Fragrant Silage

Fire

You Consume Me

He’s a Strong-Ass Man

40551.png

Reciprocity

I am the expanse of the sky

consecrating the wind to you

though

my heart bleeds raindrops

at the thought of surrender

like menses

a natural and periodic cleansing

but

there is no period

only a continuum of exertion

before I am laid to rest again

seeking reciprocity

desperately seeking reciprocity

40551.png

Midnight’s Door

Alabaster moonbeams

like liquid

streams

through cracked windows

and billowing sheers

veneers

that can’t conceal

reality

or separate truth from fantasy

easily

washing over my brow

and disavowed proclamations of liberation from love’s matrix

a creative riff

like Hendrix in the mix

of recessed devotions

obscured emotions

wrapped beautifully in a fragrant sachet

belayed inextricably

to desires that eclipse tomorrow’s rainbow

love’s undertow

that lingers