In "A Journey Into Life", Stella Tesha takes us on a journey of life from Europe to the villages of Africa and back again. Nothing hidden here. These are straightforward poems written from the heart.
A young woman asks her lover "Would I be enough for you" forever? A girl lies in bed thinking of her new husband "old enough to be her grandpa." An eleven year old girl becomes bride eligible when she experiences her first menses, and her mother holds her weeping in her arms while her father, overjoyed at the bride price of a cow, looks at all the ways their lives will be better when the cow is brought home.
In "I'm always so hungry", an orphan girl roams the streets of a city stealing food. Outrunning her pursuers and the stones they throw,she thinks: "Why am I running away?/ If the big stones get me / then hunger will be gone. / I'm always so hungry. I'm hungry to be a child."
In "I am Africa", Ms. Tesha says "Try to remember that." You don't feel the pain that I feel, that I see. When you give aid (or refuse it), "all you give is aid. I am Africa, and that won't change." Try to remember that.
The love poems express her love for her daughter, her sweetheart, love and life. Her heart is big, it encompasses much. "A Journey into Life" is a book I will go on mining for the rest of my life. I recommend it.
A young woman asks her lover "Would I be enough for you" forever? A girl lies in bed thinking of her new husband "old enough to be her grandpa." An eleven year old girl becomes bride eligible when she experiences her first menses, and her mother holds her weeping in her arms while her father, overjoyed at the bride price of a cow, looks at all the ways their lives will be better when the cow is brought home.
In "I'm always so hungry", an orphan girl roams the streets of a city stealing food. Outrunning her pursuers and the stones they throw,she thinks: "Why am I running away?/ If the big stones get me / then hunger will be gone. / I'm always so hungry. I'm hungry to be a child."
In "I am Africa", Ms. Tesha says "Try to remember that." You don't feel the pain that I feel, that I see. When you give aid (or refuse it), "all you give is aid. I am Africa, and that won't change." Try to remember that.
The love poems express her love for her daughter, her sweetheart, love and life. Her heart is big, it encompasses much. "A Journey into Life" is a book I will go on mining for the rest of my life. I recommend it.
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: AuthorHouse (February 2, 2010)
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