By Edward Henderson
When life hands you sugar and honey, you make iced tea. No, this isn’t the typical cliché we all know, but poet and San Diego native Delicia Rashad details how this combination is a prime recipe for healing the soul in her latest collection of poems entitled: O’ Sugar Honey Iced Tea.
The collection, which is available on Amazon.com, is broken up into four parts: Sugar consists of poems focusing on the blissful stage of love and relationships. Honey focuses on self-love and affirmation. Ice covers heartbreak and the ending of relationships. Tea closes out the book with reassurance and grounding after realizing the struggles of life.
“For me it’s all of the different ingredients that make up life,” said Rashad. “It creates this perfect and refreshing drink.”
choosy lover:
‘the truth is my love is too fluid
my skin isn’t tough
i fall weak to a kind soul with gentle eyes
a Cheshire smile and a dream
my heart is filled with spring thoughts
year round, as long as it’s held
but the truth is my heart is always in several pairs of hands
always protected and misguided
my weakness and my reason to never commit
i could never make my heart choose’
~Delicia Rashad
Rashad’s poems read like diary entries we get to indulge on free of guilt. Her offerings are vulnerable, honest and digestible for every level of poetry lover. If you’re seasoned veteran or new to the genre, there’s something in there for you. Everything in the book is intentional and selected with care. Mirroring the reader’s experience on some of the deeper emotions that come from living, loving and letting go.
“I would hope [readers] see something of themselves in it. It would give them a sense of re-assurance. That’s how poetry is translated to me. When I didn’t have the right words, or how to express a thought or feeling, there was a book of poetry that spoke to me. I’m hoping that’s what happens when people read the book.”
Rashad started writing when she was in kindergarten. What began as short stories in a class journal slowly evolved into poetry during her middle school years. When she was a sophomore in high school, one of her teachers told her she had a gift and that she should cultivate it.
“It took a while for me to share. In the beginning I wouldn’t share super deep and personal stuff. My first book had a lot of dark and personal things I didn’t know how people would perceive me after reading it. I actually had friends going through similar situations and said it was nice that they weren’t alone. Knowing that there is somebody can benefit from seeing or hearing it keeps me going.”
While there is a sense of altruism that is injected into Rashad’s purpose for writing poetry, the practice is still very personal and introspective for the budding writer.
“Writing is therapy. It’s so relieving. I can be super overwhelmed with life and work or whatever is going on and I can take 10 or 15 minutes out of the day to put all of the thoughts I’m having out on paper. Not all the time the person I can talk to and not judge me. Writing and my journals are my best friend.”
You can order Rashad’s book: O’ Sugar Honey Iced Tea on Amazon.com
