Customer Reviews

Wayfaring Stranger-Poems

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"Wayfaring Stranger is what you're after when browsing the shelves for something great to read. Provoking and seducing the reader with its language, and, perhaps most of all, with its utter connection to reality. I would rank the author with the Nikki Giovanni's, Dr. Mayo Angelou's, and Langston Hughes' of the 21st Century. Finishing this book, left me a great since of essential viewpoint on today's society, and I look forward to M. Rose Barkley's next work."

I got this 'piece of art' the 25th. of December 1999.(yep, Christmas Day)
The minute I started to read I was sold.
I was touched in a very special way. Straight in the heart.
I'm a black guy from Holland and I didn't understand everything at once,
but I believe that every black man should own a copy of this piece of black gold.
I believe the words in this book are very strong and very true.
It gives me peace of mind in times when my live gets crazy.
It helps me to put my life back into perspective.

Thank you Rose Barkley

M. Rose Barkley's poems speak with an intense rhythm. Her truths are direct and real; the music of this poetry carries forward straight to the soul. Sometimes we are brought to a new place with repeated lines, "I sit thinking/Blinking memories/of You/Blinking/Past images of you." Sometimes we are moved by single syllable beats, "Bird song/sing bird/as you melt/My soul away from this." And often Ms. Barkley brings us the excitement of a multi-syllabic rhythm, "Staring@ a 90 degree angle's impression/of the torchiere's light thrust upward/upon the green walls/like a horizontal sunrise bursting..." Singing with this virtuosic sense of rhythm, Ms. Barkley's brings her messages straight to us...messages of her search for herself, her identity as a black woman, her sense of who she is and her desire to right social injustice. Some of these poems are exhortations in the style of Lucille Clifton, "Go young children/and learn/Seek out/those things/which make your spirits/burn/Just go/Learn." And "Black Girl/Why is color/on your mind." Some are chants. I would love to hear the poet say this one, "I can squeeze/on a dollar/'til the joker drip/green/ If I gotta make it/holler-/Yeah, you know/what I mean." That poem is hollering to be heard.

Fearless and honest poetry that searches for truth of self, rejuvenation, release of inner core, spirit and soul. Not fearing her humanity, Ms. Barkley takes us on the path toward the "wayfaring stanger[s]" in ourselves. I love her strength and words. Inspirational.

Wayfaring Stranger captures the gamut of human emotion, from outrage to euphoria. This meritorious work is both insightful and profound and is very, very rewarding reading. M. Rose Barkley's book belongs in the library of anyone who's serious about their love for the written word. Buy it and read it!

I found that I could relate to many of her poems. You can't help but be completely taken in by the strength in the messages that come across in each of her passages. I look forward to her next collection of masterpieces.

After coming across this wonderful book by happenstance, I am totally moved by the verse and spirits contained within it. I have read it several times, and was very pleasantly surprised that there was available, an audio version of it! Spoken by the author, no less! What a treat! As I spend a lot of time driving, I have listened to Ms. Barkley's spoken words, dozens of times. And each time I do, I feel a refreshment of my spirit and soul... absolutely wonderous. I recently viewed a short film produced by Ms. Barkley, titled "In View of a Cup Half-Full", based on the poem "Spiral Pillar". It was absolutely gripping visually, spiritually, rhythmically, and overall just reached out and grabbed you. I wanted to immediately watch it again and again, just to feel the power envelope me, inspiring me to aspire higher... Ms. Barkley's works are truly of the spirit. I can't wait, to experience her next creative composition. I would highly recommend any and all of her work to everyone. Experience it with an open heart... you'll be glad you did.

WAYFAIRING STRANGER is a powerful, beautiful work of art. Honest, lyrical, rhythmic, touching...it glows with the real.

From "Literary Cog" (one of my personal favorites):

"still/ must the poet seek/ to find and identify/ that which she sees/ and that which she knows/ instinctively/ to be unyieldingly indifferent/ to rhyme or reason/ for more than/ an instant/ in time/ on paper"

True indeed.

-Joshua Ortega, February 2000

A book for all moods and life in general. I opened the book in random, and there on that page was a poem that seemed to fit the very mood and thoughts I was feeling at that particular moment. (Tight). Thanks Bark...Leslie

Rose Barkley's poems have a sensitive power. They are beautiful, free flowing, and feel natural. Her voice speaks sometimes in "home grown" language and other times in a more formal tone, but all her words reveal a great profundity. The poems are from the African-American perspective, but also speak to all people who have experienced life on the street, in the neighborhood, 20th Century living. The cover photograph is perfect for the poems...the look in the "Wayfaring Stranger's" eyes, the quiet dignity, the knowledge in his era of the life so incredibly unjust, and there he is, like a King, with the quiet power of a King, carrying no sword. That is the feeling Rose Barkley's poems give to the reader.