Skip to main content

National Poetry Month’s Feature: Poet Alan King

Poet’s Bio: Alan King is an author, poet, journalist and videographer, who lives with his family in Bowie, MD. He’s a communications specialist for a national nonprofit and a senior editor at Words Beats & Life‘s global hip hop journal. King is the author of POINT BLANK (Silver Birch Press, 2016) and DRIFT (Aquarius Press, 2012). He’s a graduate of the Stonecoast MFA Low-Residency Program at the University of Southern Maine. His poems and short stories appear in various literary journals, magazines and are featured on public radio.


Deliah Lawrence: In celebration of National Poetry Month, can you share with us a few of your poems?

Alan King: Sure, I’d be happy to. Here you go:


Beacon

An intern asks, Aren't you scared?

And you remember the hospital clerk saying: 

What you're doing is courageous.


You do what you have to 

for your wife whose life is leashed 

to a box cleaning her blood

before spooling it back into her body. 

 

It does what it has to 

because her kidneys can't. 

And weren't they courageous, 

standing their ground, 

before Lupus took them out? 

 

Its gluttony left you scratching your head, 

lost in this new life—the one that marks you donor

and your wife recipient

season your new tongue.

 

You watch your wife sleep while

the machine chimes and beeps,

remembering the intern’s question.

 

Of course, there were moments

that gobbled your bravery to a morsel:

the emergency room visits;

Lupus nearly taking her out.

 

And isn't she the courageous one—

how she welcomes each day, even those

where grief is the overcast sky,

 

those moments when the only light

is her heroic heart blazing

these dark streets winding beyond

the mysterious and unknown?


Into the Light 

You're a floor below me, healing 

in your room. Both of us sore 

from the divine puppetry of science—

God pulling the surgeon's strings, 

sliding the kidney from inside me,

routing it to its new body in Connecticut.

 

And wasn't He present in the hands' deft dance 

and how hope lit the operating room like a stage?

Your new kidney ready for its debut inside you,

having traveled, in a freight of prayers, 17 hours

from Minneapolis to DC.

 

Didn't our road here

seem even longer—

not being a direct match, 

the hiccup in lab results, 

us hurling our names 

into an Exchange pool

deep with uncertainty?

 

And here we are—in our beds, 

an elevator ride from each other, this moment 

like the 90-degree day beyond our windows, 

the cloudless sky, shadows receding 

in the sunlight.

DL: Where can folks learn more about you and your poetry?

AK: They can find out more here:

Book buy links: 

DL: It’s been a pleasure having you here with us today. I know my readers will enjoy reading your poetry.

AK: Thanks for the opportunity!







Comments

Popular posts from this blog

National Poetry Month’s Feature: Poet Claire Dorsey

Poet’s Bio: Claire Dorsey studied acting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She has worked as an actress for almost 20 years Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway, originating roles in Pearl Cleage's  Late Bus to Mecca  at the Judith Anderson Theater and Diana Son's  Stealing Fire  at SoHo Rep. She appeared in an episode of the TV show  The Wire . She worked as an artist-in-residence in NYC public schools and performed her poetry at venues throughout the city.  She collaborated with NYC photographer Kwasi Noire to self-publish a volume of poetry entitled  Rhythms of a Life . Her work appears in volumes 1 and 2 of The Fire Inside: Collected Stories and Poems from Zora’s Den . Claire works as a proofreader and copy editor and is the mother of one amazing daughter.  Readers can learn more about Claire and her work at: Facebook: Claire Dorsey Instagram: kleyrmoon  Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to be a poet? Claire Dorsey: I am one of nine children. I was nicknamed Idy (

It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Debbie Stokes, author of The Stranger He Knew

Author’s Bio: Debbie Stokes was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She has always had a desire to be a published author of a fiction novel, but fear stopped her. She often shares how her story ideas come to her in her dreams, and how she jumps up to write them down. Finally, one day, she pushed past her fear and allowed her vision to come to past. She is now a published author, and The Stranger He Knew is her first book.  Debbie is a former CEO, blogger, and interviewer for her previous women's empowerment blog called, 3 Women Voices, where she shared empowering stories of how people overcame odds to live their best lives. She is also a former contributing writer for FEMI Magazine, a cultural lifestyle magazine, where she interviewed and shared people’s stories.  When not writing, she enjoys singing, dancing, inspiring others, and spending time with family.  Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book? Debbie Stokes: That is a funny story. One day, I went

Interview with Jacqueline Seewald, Author of THE INHERITANCE

Author’s Bio: Multiple award-winning author, Jacqueline Seewald, has taught creative, expository and technical writing at Rutgers University as well as high school English. She also worked as both an academic librarian and an educational media specialist. Sixteen of her books of fiction have previously been published to critical praise including books for adults, teens and children. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of diverse publications and numerous anthologies. What inspired you to write your book? I enjoy writing romantic mystery fiction. The idea for this particular novel just seemed to evolve organically from my imagination. Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult? I would have to say reading the Bible was influential. As far as regular books go, I’m a big fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Is this your first book? How long did it take to start and