Showing results by narrator "Jonathan Cumberbatch" in All Categories

At its heart, Parade is a meditation on belonging: on the occasional yearning to be seen within a wider society while also holding close the intimate truths that make us who we are. The poems bear witness to the joys and burdens of history, the weight of expectation, and the liberating power of self-acceptance. They recall the carnivals of childhood, the rhythm of drums and voices, the bonds of kinship, and the resilience found in love and loss.

Valentine’s Day is a personal musing on variable aspects of love as experienced and observed. I believe the subject is worth exploring as it appears (to me) that love is in constant manifestation around each of us, subtly encouraging our participation.

My poems have simply kept coming over the years, often inspired by an impactful observation, conversation, or element of music, or as an emotional urge that simply spouts out in written words to present itself. Primary Colors is meant to speak to the colors we may ascribe to our most visceral and immediate moments of flushed emotion, e.g. infatuation, grief, and joy. Some of the poems here may speak to specific colors, but are not meant to be definitive.