My passions are poetry and music. The melodies of lyrics in song and the language of poetry is where I find my strongest voice. As a performer, I give praise to the Divine, for gifting me with both musical and literary talents. This blog is a cultural contribution to the humanities with emphasis on the black experience through both art forms, poetry and music. Whether in verse or melodies to a song, I love telling the stories of my life, ancestry and community. The diversity of growing up in the urban areas of Los Angeles was spiritual, provocative, challenging and at times fearful. These municipal happenings, inspired a life of giving and passion for the arts, providing me with a wealth of information, situations and lessons to fuel the fire of creativity. Raised by a grandmother and mother who migrated from the south, to the Midwest, and then to the West Coast follows the path of the African Diaspora experience in North America. Part of which, I have lived to talk about here in the blog. This blog is a richly endowed and complex community of diverse thought colors; tastes and sounds are what I rely on as the backdrop of my creativity.
The book, Ashay Speaks: Poetry on Courage and Black Survivors of the Holocaust is a sample of some of those stories coming from my child, adolescence and maturity into womanhood. This blog is a way of informing readers of Ashay’s brilliant work and research as a performing and visual artist (I g=am a budding jewelry maker and metalsmith as well) and writer. I look forward to connecting with my fellow world citizens, as we look at life through a poetic lens, using trans media to accompany my book is my current vision. Reading my poetry in real time is my plan, while putting my book (with your help) in the hands of thousands in our global community. This blog will reflect my sentiments about life in general and specifically about African Americans aesthetics, its traditions in literature and the arts. The samples of my poetic work will be posted here. From time to time, I will create poetry and short stories on this blog or post snippets of verses I write in real time. Please, I encourage and welcome your feed back. “It takes a village to raise the child. . . .(African Proverb)” My poetry is not different, It is my child in language. Here lies the birthing process and my labor of poetic love. To you I give a part of me in Poetry.
Peace through poetry,
Ashay
ashayspoetrynmusic 