Lavender Lemonade & Whiskey: A Poetry + Prose Collection

By Erica Lanette

Lavender Lemonade & Whiskey is a collection of poetry and prose about life, love, heartbreak, and faith. It is the poetic voice of a young black girl's journey of self-awareness, self-love, and leaning into faith even when life doesn't make sense.

The poetry collection is the epitome of being handed lemons and making a cocktail out of them. Each poem possesses an emotional element of this cocktail; the sweetness of lavender, the sour of lemon, and the intensity of whiskey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387798742

Book preview

Fantastic 

My therapist gave me a sticker

Unorthodox

Yet, I smiled a smile that felt nostalgic 

That’s when I realized,

She was giving the sticker to my inner child

because I wouldn’t 

Wanderlust 

It was so hard to find

She looked in spare rooms

and in odd jobs

Twelve hundred miles of road

winding in the direction of infinite hopes and dreams

Her thoughts constantly disobeying the speed limit 

Her imagination searching for answers to a

scavenger hunt across state lines

Wanderlust kept her eyes fixated on greener grass 

It's got to be around here somewhere

Good Morning

The sunrise dances on my window sill

A dance that shimmies through my dark clouds

like new mercies 

Playing peekaboo with my eyelids

Do I have to?

I can’t today

I want to be left alone

Good Night 

I can’t sleep 

I owe my mind an apology but,

I’m afraid that if I stop daydreaming,

finally breathe deep

and embrace the night

I’ll remember I’m alone  

So, my mind keeps running in spirals

My heart racing to escape the silence 

Sip Slow

I’m a decanter of unfinished business

You, an amber spirit of ambition

Something about your presence intrigues me

Invites me to ask what you’re made of

Your quality

Your proof

Would you join me for a night cap?

An evening of exchanging our heart’s war stories

Exchanging laughter like two cigars

refusing to choke

Like two glasses engraved with history

Overflowing with vulnerabilities

Let's be honest 

Neat

No chaser 

Sip Slow

Get to know me 

I may appear similar to other options,

but rest assured,

I am complex and full-bodied

I promise to make sense if you take the time to

study me 

Breathe

Don't solve

I am not a problem to be fixed

I am an experience to enjoy 

Observe 

Don't judge 

Just observe