Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed Don’t Have the Blues: Poetry, Then and Now . . .

By Pamela Mercer

Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed Don’t Have the Blues is a timely poetry anthology that traces the history of portions of our culture and paints a portrait of rural black history over decades. With excerpts of life, truth, reality, and the social stigmas of Chicago’s ghettos, lifestyles, and how total devastation by drugs, race, and modern enslavement while battling history, integrity, and the historical economic growth and development of black America. A piece of the past, a piece of the present, a piece of the future, but above all, a sense of peace in sharing the pages of an anthology that relates to so many in so many diverse and positive ways. Neither blue nor dejected, Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed Don’t Have the Blues is a now-time creation with historical value and will take even that part of non-black Americans to a place where so many truths can be seen and the passion of history development from third-world existence to great leadership can be worldly recognized.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532044526

Pamela Mercer

From an old shack in the Englewood area of Chicago Illinois I wrote my first poem, and expression of the emotion that moved me forward and helped me to survive the inevitable. Change would come and I would be a big part of it. I wrote about everything I couldn’t talk about openly and I started writing about the things I could speak of openly but wondered who was really listening. I love poetry and literature but most of all I love how much society has changed to embrace the artist in all forms and fashions. From the great artist like Nikki G. The Last Poets and Maya Angelou, I submerged from the fog. Having the ability to move from writing a recipe book and hand painting greeting cards to the diversity in historical poetry and documentaries has blessed my positive energy to be if nothing more tenacious enough to share my truths and the visions I have for what I see as an art form. Poetry is art and I am just another artist.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 Pamela Mercer.

Cover Design and Photography by Pamela P. Mercer

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 author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-4451-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-4452-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018902628

iUniverse rev. date: 02/28/2018

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MY PERSONAL ARCHIVES.

Birth of Still Born Ruins © 1994 Pamela Mercer

Self Publication – Affectionately Yours Publishing

Library of Congress Form TX - TXu642-667

Consequences – Love in the Spirit of God © 2000 Pamela Mercer

Self Publication – Affectionately Yours Publishing

Library of Congress Form TX - TXu958-231

From Sunset to Sybaris © 1995 Pamela Mercer

Self Publication Affectionately Yours Publishing

Library of Congress Form TX – TXu679-676

Narration in Poectasy © 1997 Pamela Mercer

Self Publication Affectionately Yours Publishing

Library of Congress – Form TX – Txu824-293

Sisters Single and Sanctified © Pamela Mercer

Self Publication Affectionately Yours Publishing

Library of Congress – Form TX – Txu1-112-318

A Tribute to The 44th President of the United States of America

Barack Hussein Obama © 2008 & 2009 Pamela Mercer

Self Publication Affectionately Yours Publishing

Maturing Gracefully © 2017 Pamela Mercer

Self Publication Affectionately Yours Publishing

Library of Congress Form TX –

Published bound copy 2018 © Pamela Mercer

Have Sax With Me © 2000 Pamela Mercer

Self Publication – Affectionately Yours Publishing

CONTENTS

Contributions from my personal archives.

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Convenient Excuses

My Brick Wall

more consequences

To God Be The Glory

God is Love

Love Source

Loneliness

I’m so Small He’s so Awesome

He can do anything but fail

In my secret place

In A Perfect World

Reach for a star and don’t settle for a small ray of sun

In my euphoric garden of Life

Poetry

The Process

My Husband

We Are

Today I cried Out Loud

The Searching Prayer

Once Upon a Morning

expectations

Peaceful Slumber Party

Smiling Eyes

The Quiet Within the Storm

The Essence of my familiar

Silent Screams of My Quiet Speaking

Not Used

The Lady in Hyde Park

EMOTIONS

Just One Word

Sweetest Inspiration

Dream and I Dream

Dessert

Dry Feet

An Unconditional Beginning To a Beautiful Begin

No Strings Attached

If we had never met

Touching

Racism

Leaning Back and Chilling

Last Night

Song For A Friend

Department Of Delicious

Venting

No Penetration Required

Friends and Lovers

Addicted To You

Growing Up

Peachtree Hotel in Atlanta Georgia

When Black Men Dream

Change

Yes He Did

It has a name and so do we!

still born birth

Six Month Syndrome

Have We Lost Our Sense Of Direction

In Retrospect Of Disrespect

on the subject of the essence woman

How Do You Love A Real Black Man

and the children suffer

Serial Killer

Time Passes

Ego-Orgasms

Page Two

Her Ruin

For The Sisters Who Forgot

Explanation

Mayor Harold Washington

Denial

I’ve Never Liked Working!

DEDICATION

To the friends I meet and the friends I left behind. To my high school sweetheart and the wonderful people that have come into my life and inspired me to continue to be poetic in some form so that I could inevitably tell on myself from time to time but most of all for my large and extended family in Dimona, Israel they are a great big part of the poetry in my life.

Acknowledgements

It would take at least a hundred pages to acknowledge and pay tribute to the very special people in my life who inspired my writing who inspired my art and who continue to inspire some of my more innovative ideas as an artist both poetically and on canvas so I am going to narrow it down to location, location, location. My best friend Daphne and her Mom were and will always be a very special part of my life and my growing. They were a big part of my survival kit when I was a teenager following a fire were family was separated and we lost everything. My favorite grammar school teacher from Perkins Bass Public School in Englewood. Mr. v I could never spell his name but he was one of my favorites. In fact, I am sure that’s not how you spell his name but people would remember him for being a very caring grade school teacher who constantly motivated his students. My middle school art teacher Mr. Wright who would have to be over 100 years old today but his talent and teachings brought so