I won a cake walk once in the third grade, but if my life exemplifies anything, it’s that I’m not a winner. I rarely win at anything. Growing up, I was odd and the black sheep. Hell, I thought I was stupid for most my youth. Seriously. It’s such a harsh word but there is no other word to use. It wasn’t until my junior year in high school when I realized that maybe I wasn’t as dumb as I seemed, an issue I’ve struggled with even as I taught myself trigonometry, even as I solved differential equations and eigenvalues. I know that sounds like a humble brag but it isn’t. Rather a painful reminder in this journey of mine regardless of its strength. Maybe someday I’ll tell you why but not today. So, I celebrate the little wins. Once I caught a softball that came straight to me from the batter; it was fast and the ball stung the palms of my hands despite the glove I was wearing. I was playing second field, and catching the ball was freaking awesome, just like the chocolate cake from the cake walk.
Working on my novel has been slow, but I’m hoping to pick up the pace in the last few weeks before I start working again. Besides my novel, I have a short story I’ve been working on and a poetry collection. Above is the cover reveal for the collection: f-1(n) = inverse function. The release date is April 1, 2024, the anniversary of my nephew’s death. This collection is a journey through depression, heartache, silence, and isolation. I have an event scheduled for March 1, 2024, where I will read several poems from this new collection as the featured poet for Kern Poetry’s open mic night.
Cyn B 