Voices of the Heart

By I. Bernard Brown

Voices of the heart is a collection of poems and lyrical bits of real life emotions, pains, joys, moments and dreams captured in words.

This collection of poetry spans over 45 years. I wrote my first poem as I can recall when I was but a teenager. I, remember seeing some beautiful red birds in the trees, it was a thing of beauty and in those day, I did not have a camera. Through the years as things touched my heart are bothered me I wrote about them. At that time, I only wrote about it so I can remember it and had no inkling of composing a book poetry, but after writing so many poems through the years of my good and bad experiences and now that Im retired and live in the woods by the lake and sits on my porch much of the time it came into my spirit and I decided to clean some of my bits up and put them together for everyone who wish to share them. I call my collection Voices of the Heart.

This collection of poems concerns mostly my life for the last 45 years through the joys, pains and strife two marriages, six meaningful relationships, six children, four different women, undergraduate and graduate degrees from two colleges one is south and one in the Midwests and having reside in three states.

My life has always been a journey never a destination. I am about 60 now, my thoughts are still beyond the familiar. I often think about getting my doctorate degrees, build a house in the mountains and making more memories. I cherish every fleeting moment and appreciate life like its no tomorrow, every day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973624370

I. Bernard Brown

The author, I. Bernard Brown is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. He was born, raised and educated on one of the barrier islands, Johns Island. After high school he received a Bachelors of Arts in industrial arts education Grambling State University and a Masters of Arts in industrial education from Ball State University. He was a design engineer for the chevrolet group at Guide Division of General Motors, Anderson, Indiana and a manufacturing engineer at Raybestos Manhattan. He taught industrial technology in the Charleston County school and later was a professor at Trident Technical College in the industrial engineering department He has three sons and two daughters. He is the fifth child of nine brothers and sisters. He is a member of St. James United Methodist Church, where he currently serves as a worship leader and a class leader. He is the founder of The St James Ensemble Choir, now celebrating 30 years, and the Barbara A. Mitchell scholarship fund having awarded over $15,000 in scholarships over the past five years. He is an avid multi-level network marketeer, where he has organized, nurtured and grew huge groups across the Southeast. He achieved the level of ambassador with the Freelife Corporation and was awarded an all expense paid vacation to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. He has numerous associations with the writers guild throughout the years, The Unknown Poet Society, Songwriters Guild and Poet and Writers Association, etc. . He has been writing for years. You wrote his first poem in his early teens. He writes poem, lyrics and bits for different occasions weddings, funerals, graduations, birthdays, etc. His poem Dear Grambling We Salute You was published in the school newspaper during the graduation class of 1976. He has three songs copyrighted in the Library of Congress and has written three books, Voices Of The Heart,Loved And Lost In Four Thousand Days and Start To A Great Finish. Currently hes writing Conquered By Her Innocence,Order Your Way, Stones From Behind The Wall and Heaven Help Us All. He encourages young writers to put their thoughts upon tablets, right there and then before they lose it and to keep a good collection system for their writings.

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Copyright © 2018 I. Bernard Brown.

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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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-2438-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2437-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903889

WestBow Press rev. date:  04/25/2018

Preface

Voices of the heart is a collection of poems and lyrical bits of real life emotions, pains, joys, moments and dreams captured in words.

This collection of poetry spans over 45 years. I wrote my first poem as I can recall when I was but a teenager. I, remember seeing some beautiful red birds in the trees, it was a thing of beauty and in those day, I did not have a camera. Through the years as things touched my heart or bothered me I wrote about them. At that time, I only wrote about it so I can remember it and had no inkling of composing a book poetry, but after writing so many poems through the years of my good and bad experiences and now that I’m retired and live in the woods by the lake and sits on my porch much of the time it came into my spirit and I decided to clean some of my bits up and put them together for everyone who wish to share them. I call my collection Voices of the Heart.

This collection of poems concerns mostly my life for the last 45 years through the joys, pains and strife two marriages, six meaningful relationships, six children, four different women, undergraduate and graduate degrees from two colleges one is south and one in the Midwest’s and having reside in three states.

My life has always been a journey never a destination. I am about 60 now, my thoughts are still beyond the familiar. I often think about getting my doctorate degrees, build a house in the mountains and making more memories. I cherish every fleeting moment and appreciate life like it’s no tomorrow, every day.

Acknowledgment and Dedication

It is my sincere hope that the voices from the heart in this collection takes you back to that moment in your life and relive that moment for you. Somewhere among these pages is your moment to relive or to behold. There is beauty everywhere, but we live so fast to notice it. Just maybe there is a piece among these pages that makes you slow down and realize it.

This book is dedicated to my little daughter Candis Shareen Brown, who also writes poetry. She wrote me a poem Rememba Me which I shared with you, because she thought that I had forgotten her when she got to junior high school. She did not realize then that I had to be her dad and could no longer be her friend, for then she needed some direction in her life. I realized I could not be her father and her friend. It was my tough love that guided her. I thank her for sharing that poem with me and for letting me know how much she appreciated and needed me. It was that poem that gave me a second reason for putting this collection together. Thank you Candis and I will always love you more than you will ever know. To my niece Angie B thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

Contents

Pardon Me

Share Your Story

Fear Not The Unknown

Thank You

A Prayer For Busy People

What Are You Made Of

Broken Promises

The Other Side Of Money

Be Yourself

Wise Words Of Wisdom

Brother To Brother About Being Big

Yet We Must Die

Better Days Are Coming

Short Cuts

Has Love Denied You Life

Little Things

Choose The High Road

Trees

Be Good Anyway

When My Ship Comes In

You Are In My Heart

Falling On Deaf Ear

Life In The Fast Lane

Crack/ Cocaine

Graduation Congratulation

The Light Of My House Saved My Child

Judgment Day

An Elder Travels With The Lord

It’s Time

I wish

Take Time

A Child’s Prayer