Soul of Isabella

Soul of Isabella is about beginnings and endings and making a difference where one stands in a complex world. In her second volume of poetry, Isabella invites you to reflect on your story by sharing facets of hers and her thoughts on themes as diverse as youth violence, geopolitics, and the United States Library of Congress. In compelling, precise, and lively language Isabella woos the reader to practice cursive writing with her in kindergarten; high-step to “Pomp and Circumstance” on May Day; struggle through swirling, knee-deep snow to reach high school during frigid winters; work with her as a part-time sales clerk in a treacherous environment from junior high through undergraduate school; and crisscross the programs of Baptist, United Methodist, Presbyterian, and storefront churches in learning about God, faith, and the social gospel. Her playfulness and wit are evident in West Mary Street, Hair Parade, and Weather Jitters; while Requiem in Reverse, Death Becomes Us, and Children of the Twenty-First Century illuminate her passion for proactive involvement in building the future – all within the context of her African-American heritage as a minister’s daughter and a hybrid of Farmville, Virginia and Chester, Pennsylvania.