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    Brassbones & Rainbows
    Brassbones & Rainbows
    Brassbones & Rainbows
    Ebook157 pages1 hour

    Brassbones & Rainbows

    By Shirley Bradley LeFlore

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    About this ebook

    BRASSBONES & RAINBOWS is the debut poetry collection of oral poet and performance artist Shirley Bradley LeFlore who has been on the literary scene for over five decades. A literary griot, LeFlore shares the fabric of verse through jazz, blues and gospel in an easy going, smooth and soothing Southern American dialect mixed with African American Vernacular English serving as musical notes. Tackling social, political and cultural issues with a profound love for humanity, LeFlore’s words will certainly roll off your tongue. Introduction by Ishmael Reed.
    LanguageEnglish
    Publisher2Leaf Press
    Release dateMay 5, 2013
    ISBN9780988476387
    Brassbones & Rainbows

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      Book preview

      Brassbones & Rainbows - Shirley Bradley LeFlore

      Here's what people are saying about

      BRASSBONES & RAINBOWS

      "Shirley LeFlore is an original. Her collaborations with musicians, dancers & artists, is obvious—she is as much a musician as a poet—improvising/using melody, harmony & rhythm in her writing. Some of the images she conjures / go thru you/hip & insightful. Brassbones & Rainbows is a powerful work!"

      —Oliver Lake, Poet and Musician

      You can't be jivin when her voice be horn. Shirley Bradley LeFlore's poems refine our world. Her voice is bold, vivid, brave, thick with heart and history. These poems snatch the wind from b'tween the legs of ancestors, and sing, sing her beautiful deepthroat brassband into our skins. LeFlore is a river woman mending our pain, renewing our spirits. Listen! She be whistling griot songs from the Gullah of her drum."

      —Cheryl Boyce Taylor,

      Poet/Curator Calypso Muse Reading Series

      "Brassbones & Rainbows is not an all inclusive collection, but it is representative of the spirit, the power and the unique voice that is Shirley Bradley LeFlore."

      —Deborah Mashibini, Poet and Teacher

      Shirley Bradley LeFlore's book has come just in time. The beauty and majesty of her words has saved me from the paralyzing grip of poetic humdrum. Its been quite a while since I’ve jumped heart first into a book. Sang and danced a blue light grind with its metaphors. Thank you Shirley. You've got me believing in magic again.

      —Layding Kaliba.

      author of In The Absence of God Blind Beggar Press, co-founder of The Linyak Project

      My closest literary colleague among a worthy group of writers with whom I have worked with for decades, Shirley Bradley LeFlore personifies her unique expressions of black feminine experience as she gets my bread buttered on both sides one way or another.

      —J.D. Parran, Multi-woodwind improviser, composer and educator

      Shirley LeFlore has long been regarded as a great performance poet and served her community, as few poets do, as unofficial spiritual minister, presiding at weddings, funerals, and other significant life events. Here in her first full collection, essential poems to turn to & return to like valued friends. A book to be celebrated and treasured.

      —Michael Castro, Poet and Arts Activist

      The Collected Works of

      Shirley Bradley LeFlore

      Forward by Amina Baraka

      Introduction by Gabrielle David

      P.O. Box 4378

      Grand Central Station

      New York, New York 10163-4378

      editor@2leafpress.org

      www.2leafpress.org

      2LEAF PRESS

      is an imprint of the

      Intercultural Alliance of Artists &

      Scholars, Inc. (IAAS),

      a NY-based nonprofit 501(c)(3)

      organization that promotes

      multicultural literature and literacy.

      www.theiaas.org

      BRASSBONES & RAINBOWS, The Collected Works of Shirley Bradley LeFlore, Copyright © 2013 Shirley Bradley LeFlore (www.shirleybradleyleflore.com). All rights reserved under international and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of this author's rights is appreciated. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in or introduced in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of both the copyright owner and 2LEAF PRESS, an imprint of the Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc. (IAAS), the publisher of this book, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles.

      Library of Congress Control Number:  2013933086

      Print Edition, ISBN-13: 978-0988476349

      ePub Edition, 978-0-9884763-8-7

      BISAC: Poetry / American / African American

      10    9    8    7    6    5    4    3    2    1

      Published in the United States of America

      First Edition | First Printing

      Disclaimer:

      Note to the Reader

      Viewing this eBook at a higher than optimal text size will cause the reading experience to be altered considerably. Since eBooks are formatted as reflowable text and have to work on many different screens and devices, it is impossible to guarantee that the poems will display as the poet intended. As such, some of the lines will display as multiple lines of text. When this occurs, the turn of the line will be marked with a slight indent, prompting the reader that this is a continuation of a previous line. In order to read the poetry as it was written, we suggest that you read this book at the default font size on your device. Please note, that spacing of some of the poems were either truncated or eliminated to accommodate reflowable text format. Please refer to the print edition of this book for a more accurate rendering of the poetry.

      Credits

      Cover art: Copyright © 2011 Frank Frazier

      Doo Wop Series: Those Sista’s Can Sang Watercolor wash, 24 x 32

      Author Photo: Copyright © 2013 Kelly Revelle / Revelle Photography, Crystal City, MO

      www.revellephotography.com

      Book design and layout: Gabrielle David (www.gabrielle-david.com)

      Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs courtesy of the author, Shirley Bradley LeFlore.

      Dedicated to

      my children, Hope, Jacie, and Lyah;

      my grandchildren, Noelle, Jullian, Jordan

      and Bella Grace

      my now deceased parents, my sister Barbara,

      my grandparents and extended family

      that passed on the spirit of the creative arts

      from a spiritual and cultural practice and perspective

      Table of Contents

      Blurb Captions

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      Disclaimer: Note to the

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