This book serves a major purpose in my life. Even the book cover, overflowing with the 8's, shares some major significance to me. In the Bible, the number 8 means new beginning. In order to further explain the purpose of this book, I have to go back to where my soul first experienced pain and rejection. Attending kindergarten at PS 31, I started school almost a year late because I had eczema really badly. I also had a teacher (whose name I remember to this day) who would make me stay alone in one part of the classroom. I wasn't allowed to sit or play with the other students because even though I wasn't contagious, I looked the part. I also have to go back to a family tragedy where at the age of twelve, I was gang raped by grown men. When they let me leave, I went home. No one was there, so I went to sleep and I slept with that secret for almost six months. I never told anyone until I was sent to live with relatives in another state. Torn from my sisters who I loved and who I knew really loved me, I was too messed up to realize that my new family was trying to love me. I was too messed up to receive the love they gave. After some years, I was brought back to my sisters and brothers and my mother, but too much had happened to me. There was so much anger and hurt, and I acted out a lot. I fell in love with an older married man who I thought loved me. At that time, I didn't love me enough to get out of an abusive relationship. At the age of twenty, I gave birth to my first child, my son. After thirteen years, the older married man and I parted ways, but I was blessed with two children from him. In order to get away from him, I moved out of state where the lack of money for diapers and food became so difficult that I began dating for money. I know I have made some major mistakes in my life. All the hurt, joy, pain and lessons were all trapped inside my mind. The only way to get free was to write. My poetry was my escape. This book reflects my new beginning, my BEGINNING ANEW.
About the Author: Alice Pointer Kirk was born in Columbus, Ohio, but lived most of her life in Buffalo, New York. She was the youngest of seven children. While attending Erie Community College, she majored in Liberal Arts. She was married and the mother of four children, and later legally adopted three of her grandchildren. In 1997, she opened her first business, a nail salon. The nail salon, along with her love-inspired work with children, kept her very busy. She was a foster parent for 22 years. Some of her accomplishments were attained volunteering with the Flair Community Center as a Board Member. Alice drove for Meals on Wheels as a way of giving back after being blessed with a brand new van. While attending Faith Baptist Church in Buffalo NY, she was very active on the Usher Board. Her family relocated to Atlanta, Georgia where she became a member of the Lou Walker Senior Center and enrolled in a Poetry class. It was there that her love of poetry was recognized. In 2007, Alice became the first Poet Laureate at the Lou Walker Senior Center. She was an active part of a class that published a poetry book which is now in the Library of Congress and proceeds of which go to the earthquake survivors in Haiti. She is also a two-time cancer survivor. Alice lives in Ellenwood, Georgia where she has the ability to put her thoughts and feelings into poetry, hoping that what she writes will be understood, appreciated and enjoyed.