Hood Diamond

Date Posted:   April 5,  2009
By Jewelz for iFLOW Magazine

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"You give me optimism and keep my lines in tow."
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Every urban neighborhood has its gold tucked away within the walls of solitude while seeking a way of expression; which broadens the creativity of the minds of those that places animated thought into rhythmic attitudes.  Constantly digging into their hearts for an outlet that exposes their emotions of curiosity, frustration, and heroic identities; Monique Forrester is definitely one of these diamonds that lay within the ruff, compressed with the energy she has grown to know in her Bronx, New York homeland. 

Spoken are her words, but a hip hop artist she is not. She is a woman that composes her own artistry and addresses issues far more important that the bling, high living, and “ballin” in the streets. She includes in her poetry the very subjects that address the loss of life in her poem Blood Diamonds:

I watched in pure agony,as Mothers & Fathers were savagely murdered in front of their children, as their daughters were raped in the name of the Government 

Monique has an ability to play with words as if she has been writing haikus just for the sake of it. Each portion of her poetry speaks with its own different dialect and all cannot be interpreted the same. It is a great skill to have for such a young and inspiring poet and upcoming writer of books for children.  If you close your eyes and listen, you can envision the movement of rain as it touches down in a timeless pace; yet the age of life still exists in No Rooftop for My Rain:

Why does the past have to disintegrate,
I saw into melodies like,
I was creating a new dawn with my solar mentals

Sometimes a more sentimental affect is needed to communicate a loss of a loved one that, otherwise, cannot be found in a dollar store’s greetings card. Additionally, the same statement can also be used for someone that continues to live, yet too far to reach, “You give me optimism and keep my lines in tow,” says Monique in her poem, Missing You.   

iFLOW recognizes that artists that are true to their art form are greater than those who try to forecast what a specific market would want. Monique Forrester is in her raw form and producing works that can potentially place her in the categories of Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright.  She is paving a way in a new era of writers and poets while giving birth to a new legacy that succeeds poems written about post slavery and racism in America during the early twentieth century.  Monique has carried on the responsibility as a literary artist to perform her works in the twenty-first century during a time there is an African-American president in office, the rise of the information age and the threat to the earth in terms of global warming, and the growth of unemployment because of a bad economy.   

Her intelligence will succeed her and be processed by the minds that are eclectic in thought; Monique’s energy will provide an outlet for those that are seeking to understand but find it hard to relate to the answers traditionally given by religion.  She is the spoken word of intellect and reason, for it is her words that bring to light the glory and the perils of life as it comes and goes.  That is what makes her great where she stands, in her hood.. That diamond in the hood!

A NEW HORIZON 

CRAZY FOR TRYING,
SMART FOR RE-DYING….
TO LIVE ALL OVER AGAIN,
FOR THE TALE TELLERS…..
ALL WAIT TILL YOU’RE SLEEPING…..
SO THEY CAN BREATHE THE DECEPTION,
THAT THEY ARE PROWN TO REAP,
I STILL SLEEP WITH MY EYES OPEN……..
FOR I DO NOT TRUST A SOUL,
IT’S BETTER THIS WAY….
FOR I CONSIDER MY SOUL,
UNSCAVED, FOR THEY TRY TO BREAK ME DOWN,
THEY TRY TO DROWN MY THOUGHTS,
STIFFLE MY SONGS AND ABDUCT…..
MY WINDOW PANES,
INTO AN INFORMATION HIGHWAY,
WATCH ME FROM A DISTANCE
BREAK AWAY THE MOLD
SOON AFTER THE STORIES ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN BOLD
THE FICTION BECOMES MORE…...
SALVAGEABLE THAN THE COLD WEATHER
IN THE WINTER TIME,
THE WAY THE SUN SHINES….
SPEAKS PLENTY
I WISH YOU
COULD LEND ME A WAY OUT OF THE JUNGLE,
WHEN I RUN I STUMBLE
I RECITE AND I MUMBLE
LIKE A FOOTBALL PLAYER’S FUMBLE
I GET LOST IN MY WORDS…….
LIKE A PUZZLE, OR A WORD JUMBLE
I SAY THE TROUBLE IS WORTH IT TO GAIN
A NEW HORIZON,
AND MAYBE A LITTLE FAME…..

Poem Written  by Monique Forrester