M Is For Mahogany #AtoZChallenge @AprilA2Z

 

Photo Credit: Nappy for Pexels.com

 

M is For Mahogany 

Here we are

two Jaspers in space

Meeting up for the first time with a priori

for seduction’s

Chance yet here we are wearing

prejudices placed in our minds from meditations..

Media

I like you, you like me, this tango should be simple

I follow your lead and in turn I lead your heart back to me

Only one thing stops me from loving you,

You’re mahogany- just like me. Our sameness,

our hurts all the bitterness of these apples

were handed to us without a choice

I see you

I see someone I am supposed to loathe because of ThugBabyDaddyBabymommaDramaUnemployedSelfhate

And when you see me you see FemaleMasculinityTooIndependentButBrokeEnoughtoBeaGolddigger

Mentality

Who gave you the poison? Oh, she did?

Who gave me my poison? He did, they did, we all effing did

But I’ll dance with you,

I’ll lure you with my same browness and bigness, and thick-skinnedness

As long as you do the same to me

Copyright 2018© Erica Jean Smith

*I hope you enjoyed this poem. This one was right off the top of my head when I thought of the color mahogany which is like a reddish-brown hue. We have all been bruised emotionally because of our skin-tone or hair type. One thing I learned is that “isms” never really die. Why? Because they are ideas, philosophies, prejudices, ghosts. What we can do is rise above it all and love one another on deeper terms than just what we are given. Yes, even our own experiences can cloud very good judgment.

~Ericajean

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L Is For Liberty Blue #AtoZChallenge @AprilA2Z

 

L is for Liberty Blue

The foundation of the world was founded on this

One principle, on truth, one whole philosophy

Held within you

The ultimate reality of any sentient being

 

The lamp holder of life, the true

Divine, holder of anything that is right

Freedom must be cold, calculating and

Virtuous

 

Not just a figment of the mind

And not on someone else’s time

Someone else is not God,

Someone else is not you

 

Who is supposed to take my victory and for what?

For what?

I already slid into life without a choice

I now have a voice, I now have

 

A chance at liberty- free from chains.

Shackles still remain around my mind

When I softly croon an auto-tuned vibe

About how I’m not appreciated

 

So I

scoop up Neo Soul

And Grandma’s Fried Chicken

Aunties Banana pudding

 

And Dad’s spaghetti

Tastes like freedom.

Copyright 2018© Erica Jean Smith

Photo Credit: Jaymantri

K is For Khaki and Entry Level Rat Racing #AtoZChallenge @AprilA2Z, #Poetry

 

By now I hope you have been enjoying these verses and prose poems inspired by colors and other non-related posts. Try and join the April A to Z Challenge hashtags and links and I will be back soon 🙂

Go to school they say

Pay attention and turn in that work!

Complete that essay, dig into the specifics!

The Intro, the thesis,

Your main statements in the body

The body

Another year in college with a major

Another three and Freshmen 15 has given you more

Back and front than you’ve wanted

You can’t find the internship, you can’t find a way

To pay the rent

The rent

Must be paid and paid in some way

And then you hear the words

Over

Quali

Fied

You

Dress, from

Feet to

Thighs

In khaki pants and place

The fresh, black cap upon your

head

And smile when you’re in pain

You go to work in the rain

And weekends

Repeating “Do you want the number(insert number) combo?”

Or you put on the starch shirt

Glance at your science degree and lament

Your impending day of getting cussed out

Over bills and other matters and you wonder if

These people need an underpaid

Counselor

Copyright©2018 Erica Jean Smith

‘Deadly Sexy’ by Beverly Jenkins Review Plus #TruthinFiction

Deadly Sexy by Beverly Jenkins

(Try Sexy/Dangerous as well. Such a pleasing romp of a story!)

This book has literally nothing but five stars on Amazon! No kidding!

This week I had the absolute pleasure(always is while reading a Bev Jenkins novel) of reading Deadly Sexy. I tell you, I just can’t stay away from her books and now that my Freading.com account is back on track, I am back to my bookworm-y ways. Anyway, check out this snippet of my Goodreads review about the sports agent and glamorous JT “Jessie” Blake!

Deadly Sexy by Beverly Jenkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was just as sexy and juicy as Sexy/Dangerous. Beverly Jenkins knows how to tell a story. In this one, JT “Jessie” Blake is a hardcore sports fan and sports agent. A glamorous and intelligent woman who hadn’t even thought about love…until one day her car breaks down and a handsome trucker comes to her rescue. Reese Anthony is stunned by the beauty along the side of the road, but whoever sabotaged her car is out for blood and they will do anything to have her miserable… or dead.

Who knew that a conversation over fat, yummy cherries would put these two together? I enjoyed their banter and I especially had a warm heart for the Anthony brothers. Reese Anthony is from a line of men who can cook, woo a woman, they are seriously HOT, and super intelligent businessmen. JT likes Reese immediately, and to me, it happened much to fast- I needed more hard to get action to prolong the “fun” you know?

View all my reviews

There is truth to every piece of writing, including “time stamps”. You can tell the time period of a book by the media used, certain slanguage, style of dress, etc. In Deadly Sexy, I was thrust back to 2007. Remember when we did not have all of this social media? Back then you had to literally turn on the television to try and get up to the minute updates or listen to the radio, basically there was just blogging, Myspace, and email? I know, it does not seem too long ago, like say, 1955- but still in the novel I noticed these things.

In the story, JT receives a call about her going to rehab. Apparently someone’s “publicist” had alerted the news networks(by phone and email) of this blatant lie. I was just thinking that in 2018, instead of JT having to go through her lawyer(which in some cases you should do anyway), she could have sent out a Tweet and some DMs totally canceling the slander.

Also, the phones mentioned in the book are either “phones” or “Blackberries” and now we have sophisticated technologies built into our Smartphones today. We can email, fax, go on social media, chat, go on Instagram, Skype- anything.

So, it was interesting noticing how business was truly conducted then compared to now; we  don’t truly need a middle person to be our PR.

Excellent novel by the way! Featuring strong, black women who are not only gorgeous but intelligent, sweet, and can cook a mean meal!

For more truth in fiction articles, please subscribe and I love comments so let’s chat!

Answering the Toughest Questions About Suffering and Evil #SoulBookSunday

 

Answering the Toughest Questions by Bickle and Jantz

Book Details:

Answering the Toughest Questions About Suffering and Evil by Bruce Bickle and Stan Jantz

Published by Bethany House(2018)

ISBN: 978-0-7642-1872-9

I read a very important book last month and now I’d like to share what I learned from it. I think it is so appropriate for what we all have gone through or will go through in this life. Without further ado, here is a snippet of my review from Amazon:

I am no stranger to evil and suffering and I appreciate the Christian authors for at least being honest in the book, admitting that they too, have no concrete answers. They trust that God is good and things work out together for the good.

One part of the book that kind had me feeling some type of way was the story of Kate Bowler. A thrity-five year old woman who finds out she has cancer and will be leaving her husband and new baby behind on this world. She keeps it real saying, this “prosperity gospel” teaching we have leaked out into churches is wrong. We are told it we think positive, pray loud enough and believe long enough, we shall not die. This thinking is tied into the American spirit.

And she is right.

I reflect back on losing my father and then on losing my mother-in-law two years later. We prayed for them earnestly. Begged God, made promises. I even think back to when my husband and I lost our place several years ago and family would not help out even though we’ve helped several people financially. I asked myself: Where was God then? It’s events like this that makes me believe God is around but left us alone. This is deism. I ain’t mad at anyone who believes in deism either because with that belief, God is still our Intelligent Creator, but where are the active miracles? The instant karma for the evil doers? Where is it?

Back to Kate Bowler. She understands God now and she is not mad at Him. She is not mad because death is actually a part of life and if He wanted her healed, he would have done so. We are frail, weak, yet special creatures whose lives are short.

Here’s another truth: the bible never promised forever on earth for us. In fact in John 16 in the bible, it plainly states, “We will have trouble” so even if you do not believe in God or the bible, at least Scripture keeps it real: We will have trouble. So, no surprise there.

I will leave you with this piece of advice that the book left me: When trouble does come, yes, prayer is good and welcome and when someone else is grieving, do not give them platitudes and Scriptures. Please don’t. Just be an ear, just be there. Just listen.

*This book was given to me free for my unbiased opinion from Bethany House

I hope you enjoyed this review and if you’d like more Soul Book Sunday Reviews please consider subscribing or share the post with your followers. Also, I am on Twitter often- stop by and say hi!

~The Write Web

 

J is For Jade #Poetry #AtoZChallenge @AprilA2Z

Image designed by Ericajean using Canva/Photo found on Pixabay

 

I am *piedra de ijada since 1569

A gemstone in heavenly balances and found

in the crust of dirt and necklaces and set

in the eyes of the jealous

The sweat of perspiration

found on the lushness of grass

the Mortal Kombat player

the sharp twisting band for the hand of marriage:

I do solemnly swear I’ m better than you.

Better than any other hue on this planet.

My figure a voluminous **158, 100, 66

a blowing green in your dreams and nightmares

suga.

I have nothing to

envy

but I am set in your eyes

when your competition

escapes the shackles of life,

set in your eyes when the adulterer completely turns on

you,

set in your eyes when no one wants to be you.

______________________________Notes_____________________________

*Spanish for jade green

**Hue, saturation, and lightness of the color jade

Copyright© 2018 Erica Jean Smith

Top 6 Reasons Anime Lovers Really Love Anime #Otaku #Anime

Hopefully, you’ve read my previous post about what anime lovers hate about anime, but overall there is a fondness we have for it. Let me share the reasons why we are addicted to Japanese animations…

Great for the Attention Span

Is it just me, or is our attention span significantly shorter these days?

Not sure, but anime in general runs about 15-20 minutes tops(unless it is an anime movie). By then you pretty much are into the show and await the next one. This generation has short attention spans now so let me get on with the next point quickly.

Something for Everyone

I did not realize this until I started really watching anime. There is literally an anime category for everyone.

Like romance? Try Maid-Sama and others like it.

Like Shonen Jump?(Action) Try Naruto, or Dragon Ball Z

Like quests with interesting characters you fall for? Try One Piece.

Want more college life or adult life stuff? Try shows such as Nana

Then there are the thrillers I absolutely fell in love with: Parasayte the Maxim and Ajin.

Like I said, young or old, there is something for you.

Addicting Storylines

Only in anime will the storylines be so crazy but you watch them anyway. I’ve read crazy books and watched silly movies but only in anime will you see this:

In Brothers Conflict, a young girl(perhaps a teen of 17 y/0) goes to live with her stepfather’s sons for a while and all thirteen of them are super handsome and each have a different personality-of course, affecting her in some way. It is hilarious how a few of them “hit” on her in many ways and I swear the show was addicting but there weren’t many episodes(hence one reason I wrote the previous post)

 

Also, The Devil is a Part Timer is an instant favorite for us all. Only in anime will Satan himself become a teen and have to rent an apartment, eat lackluster foods and make a living in fast food only to be the apple of some chick’s eye…but there is lots of action and maybe a hint of romance..?

Watching Anime Extends Your True Creative Self

Okay, okay- what do I mean by this?

If you go on YouTube, you will find videos by people suddenly wanting to go to Japan to learn the language(some speak it fluently too!), becoming manga/comic artists, or are famous because they post really cool stuff on YouTube like AMVs.

Me, personally, I think I fell in love with the culture as a child before really understanding why and not because of anime. Although after watching anime in 2006 I took up learning the mechanics of haiku and have an interest in learning lettering and design! 

Cosplay!

We are called otakus(some say this is a derogatory term), geeks, nerd, crazy, and all of the above just for participating in an event where you can dress up as your favorite game/anime/comic character and join others with the same addiction as you.

I’ve never been to a cosplay, my family and close friends have, and I plan on going soon myself.

Fanfiction

I nearly forgot to mention this. I write fanfiction often. This is where you take an anime(or show, or movie, or book) and rewrite it as your own keeping the same settings, characters, and overall mood of the anime or twisting it around. So far it is the best place for people to judge your writing abilities and make friends.

By now, I hope you at least have a clue as to why we love these darn animes. It is no different than those addicted to K-Dramas(which I am now). I’m sure after reading this you will probably not waste your time watching an anime, but now you know why we are so serious about it.

Do you like anime? Yes? No? Do you enjoy watching K-Dramas as well? Why or why not? Thoughts?

If you enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing and have a nice day!  🙂

~The Write Web