Melodies for a Child... Within

About the Book

This book is a treacle-fest of life's maladies set to triumphant creative language. Its intent is for you, the reader, to reconnect with the child within yourself. Pay attention to that child's voice within the depth of your being. Listen closely to the hymn, hallelujah, haiku, prose, dirge and every melodious note your little child sends forth. It is a testimony of hope and survival. It is the picture of indomitable strength.

Upon first appearance this book resembles a book of poetry. Woven through the pattern is a story. One of innocence. Hunters shooting an endangered species. Falseness decorated as truth. Virtue violated. A story of brokenness journeying towards healing and rebirthing deferred dreams. Through these poems is a story of triumph, one of sisterhood and a rapt connection with the Divine.

The book progresses from the innocence of children, to the pain of sexual abuse, to finding a sisterhood. The section Sister Nation pays homage to those whose hands hold tightly to sisters in pain walking the Emmaus road to wholeness with them. Indeed, we are our sister's keeper, just as were Ruth and Naomi, Mary and Elizabeth, and Venus and Serena. As you read each tribute, envision your Emmaus road companion, the one who will not allow the lenses of your soul to make permanent the cracked window panes in life.

The book climaxes with the declaration of a personal Manifesto and ends with the powerful prophetic poem "Talking Drums."

My hope is that these poems will create a desire in each of you to offer your oratorio to the young person in your midst and to the child within. Birth to life a reality of love thy neighbor as thyself. Be blessed.

Shalom

About the Author

Reverend Dr. Pamela Blake is the product of a remarkable single parent mother who instilled in her daughter a determination to address life with optimum formal education and a desire to overcome every obstacle. As such, she received a Bachelor of Science degree from North Carolina Central University; and the Masters of Science and Doctor of Education degrees from The Pennsylvania State University. She later returned to school and received the Masters in Divinity from Duke Divinity School at Duke University. One of Blake's proudest moments was returning to her alma mater, Hillside High School, as commencement speaker.

At her core, Blake is a storyteller, a preacher and religious poet. These attributes are woven through the fabric of her poems.