Poetry Of K.O. Harrop

The Poetry of K.O. Harrop shows the beauty and significance of poetry in telling life stories. The poems teach new lessons and create new emotions and cause you to reexamine your comfort or discomfort with the subject. For example:

—In the chapter Lessons from History, revisit the past and rethink how its lessons should be used to shape the future. Awake to the cry for awareness of young lives disproportionately lost in the penal system in the poem "Elegy above a City Jailyard."

—Reexamine the events leading to the election and reelection of President Obama and the consequences in On the New Republic.

—Examine the failure of relying on human discretion and why action must be affirmative in Affirmative Action.

—In the chapters Telling the Truth and From Behind the Wall sneak into the minds of those detained without trial and those living under occupation.

—Learn the chances you live with because of your birth, your excesses, your environment and your government in On Life's Realities.

Author Kingsley Harrop-Williams visits Guyana, the country of his birth; its history, its current state, its treasures, its losses and its future in The Magnificent Province. Here, the poem 'The Last Import' parodies the end of one of its rulers.

Challenge yourself to unravel the mysteries of some of the poems. An example of the challenge is found in the following quotation:

"Kingsley Harrop-Williams' Grand Prize winning piece, 'Unrest's Sure Abode' is a shining example of accomplished elegance that meticulously carves out a disturbing image of the United States as experienced by all minorities. Harrop-Williams' words are deliberately chosen from beginning to end, and each line seems to be another piece in the puzzle which reveals the poem's grave message."

—Joy L. Esterby, Editor 'A Delicate Balance' Watermark Press, Owings Mills, Maryland