The Color of My Tears

Book excerpt: Poetry often serves as a way for people to voice the emotions that they might otherwise keep insideto come to terms with unexpressed feelings and bring them out into the open. In The Color of My Tears, author Deborah Owens presents a collection of verse that does that and more. These poems can transport you to another time and placefifteenth-century England, the Harlem Renaissance, or the sixties and seventies. Using a romantic imagination, Owens explores experiences and memories, both good and bad, happy and sad, reveling in the ups and downs of love and life. She builds a collage of emotion in her verses, providing a unique poetic journey. Bitter Pain of Laughter If the truth be told, you had no love for me. I cried; you laughed. At my pain, you laughed. And though I hurt, you turned your face. I could not help but feel the volume of your laughter, for it pierced my soul. I screamed in agony while you laughed. It was as if my pain meant nothing to you. All that I asked of you was that you would not torment me so, but that just made you laugh even more.