All the Songs We Sing

Lenard D. Moore is an internationally acclaimed poet and anthologist. His literary works have been published in more than fifteen countries and translated into more than a dozen languages. He is a U.S. Army Veteran. Moore is the author of The Geography of Jazz, A Temple Looming, Desert Storm: A Brief History, Forever Home, and The Open Eye, among others. He is the editor for One Window’s Light: A collection of Haiku. He is the founder and executive director of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective and the Executive Chairman of the North Carolina Haiku Society. He was the first African American president of the Haiku Society of America. His awards include the North Carolina Award for Literature and the Haiku Museum of Tokyo Award. He teaches African American literature and creative writing at the University of Mount Olive, where he is the poet-in-residence.

"All The Songs We Sing is a complex, nuanced ballad, an important ensemble of voices worth listening to and spending careful time with. The artists of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective have not only brought the noise, they’ve brought the music."—Southern Review of Books"All the Songs We Sing dazzles in scope and variety, highlighting the expansive talents of African American storytellers and poets from the Carolinas...This anthology contains a triumphant choir of stories, essays, and poems that sing from their guts...An expansive and poignant harmony of Black poets and writers that will inspire and uplift any reader wanting to listen."—Lindsay Lake, Raleigh Review

• TABLE OF CONTENTSPreface—Lenard D. MooreIntroduction—Jaki Shelton Green (North Carolina Poet Laureate)Fiction“Sophia” (excerpt from Salt in the Sugar Bowl) Angela Belcher-Epps“When the Stars Begin to Fall” Tracie Fellers“A History of Wanting” (excerpt from Fes is a Mirror) Chantal James“On the Border” Melina Mangal“Thomas” Lenard D. Moore“Sanctuary” Sheila Smith McKoyPoetry“Pray” Oktavi Allison“When I Consider The Open Casket” Kim Arrington“An Unrelenting Meal” Beverly Fields Burnette“Artichoke Pickle Passion: Sonnet” Beverly Fields Burnette“Donny Hathaway” Christian Campbell“portrait of pink, or blush” Adrienne Christian“The Moment At Hand” L. Teresa Church“Golden Whistles for Emmett Till” L. Teresa Church“Woman-Child” L. Teresa Church“Brown Fedora” L. Teresa ChurchHaiku— “sliver of moonlight,” “rose-laying,” “springtime farewell,” “navy blue hearse,”“wild onions” L. Teresa Church“Things My Father Taught Me” DeLana R.A. Dameron“Dear—,” DeLana R.A. Dameron“Black Barbie” celeste doaks“Black Lotus” celeste doaksThe Grill Master” celeste doaks“What to Eat, and What to Drink, and What to Leave for Poison” Camille T. Dungy“7 Lessons in Pedagogy” Camille T. Dungy“That Feeling I Get” Cynthia M. Gary“Rise” Cynthia M. Gary“A Link Between Worlds” Ashley Harris“The Pictograph Selfie” Ashley Harris“Annuals and Perennials” Janice W. Hodges“All Children Are our Children” Janice W. Hodges (The Call) and Lana Williams(Response) “Answer” Janice W. Hodges“Love Poem” Janice W. Hodges“Barrage” Janice W. Hodges“sons of the dark” Brian H. Jackson“Ghazali” Chantal James“First Breath” Valjeanne Jeffers“Out of This World” Valjeanne Jeffers“My Best Days” Valjeanne Jeffers“In A Place Where” Patricia A. Johnson“Somebody’s Child” Patricia A. Johnson“In My Father’s House” Patricia A. Johnson“Aftermath” Diane Judge“Because of Emmett Till” Diane Judge“When I Thought Of Racism” Diane Judge“Poet: Code’s Story” Raina J. Leon“Iset, God And Mother” Raina J. Leon“Persephone (Call Me Perse)” Raina J. Leon“Interrogation of Harriet Tubman” Lenard D. Moore“A Reminiscing Daddy” Lenard D. Moore“Bop: Coaching Poets” Lenard D. Moore“Haiku—the dark rock-road” Maiisha L. Moore“Mai Bahamian Haiku” Maiisha L. Moore“Color Like This” Grace Ocasio“Deeper Than Skin” Grace Ocasio“Walking Sepia” Grace Ocasio“the ballad of anita hill” evie shockley“ballad of bertie county” evie shockley“Vitals” Crystal Simone Smith“Greyhound” Crystal Simone Smith“Whole Fish” Crystal Simone Smith“Sweetness” Sheila Smith McKoy“Pollination: Outskirts of Raleigh, NC 1968” Sheila Smith McKoy“Brother Haints” Darrell “SCIPOET” Stover“North Star Blues” Darrell “SCIPOET” Stover“Rattle Grass at Fort Fisher” Darrell “SCIPOET” Stover“Black Light: To MLK, Jr.” Gina Streaty“Sojourner: Daughter of Eden” Gina Streaty“Elementary Days” Gina Streaty“Your David, My Soul” Cedric Tillman“Tact” Cedric Tillman“A Few Years In” Cedric Tillman“Tired Enough To Fill A River Of Sleep” Karen Wade“Blackbirds Listen” Karen Wade“Driving Lesson” Jacqueline D. Washington“New Spring” Jacqueline D. Washington“Morning Rises” Jacqueline D. Washington“The Archeologist: Excavating the Long Green” Carole Boston Weatherford“The question of Doctor Isaac Copper” Carole Boston Weatherford“Isaac Copper I: Why I Am Called Doctor or Minister” Carole Boston Weatherford“Ashe” Lana C. Williams“The Dowry” Lana C. Williams“Legacy of Somebody’s Baby” Lana C. Williams“I Am Black & Comely” L. Lamar Wilson“You Da Only Man I Ever Loves, Daddy: Lot’s Daughters” L. Lamar Wilson“Haiku” (“the smell of tomato plants,” “pale ferns,” “early frost” and “water from the sky”) Gideon YoungCreative Nonfiction/Memoir/Essays“A Literary Mission Accomplished: Twenty Years of the Carolina African AmericanWriters’ Collective” L. Teresa Church“From dirt” Camille T. Dungy“Perennials” Angela Belcher Epps“The World Loses Its Former Shape: Caught in the Undertow of Grief” Chantal James“Scents and Sensibility: The loss of smell brings an unexpected gift” Bridgette A. Lacy“An Onslow County Tradition” Lenard D. Moore“Tuck Hughes” Gina StreatyAfterword: “Report from Part Three”: All the Songs We Sing: The Legacy of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective”—Dr. Lauri Scheyer [Ramey], Eminent Scholar and author of A History of African American Poetry (2019) AcknowledgmentsAbout the Contributors