Untitled (12.64 x 9.25 in) (1).png
Untitled (12.64 x 9.25 in) (1).png

Take My Hand, Walk With Me

$15.99

Rooted in earthy tones and natural texture, this vase draws the eye with its layered surface and sculptural presence. Its generous shape makes it ideal for statement arrangements—or as a work of art all its own.

Take My Hand and Walk With Me is a lyrical journey through two decades of verse—new and selected poems spanning 1995–2018. This collection brings together works from earlier chapbooks—In a Little Corner of a Black Man’s Mind Stand I…, Tempest, A Heart’s Song Sung to a Friend, and the author’s first major work, In Due Season—while presenting a fresh suite of poems collected here for the first time.

Readers will find the evolution of a singular voice: from simple rhythms and candid lines to richer, more complex reflections on time, change, love, memory, and identity. In a Little Corner of a Black Man’s Mind Stand I… received recognition from the North Carolina Association of Educators Minority Arts contest in 1997, and the poem “Autumn’s Leaves,” first published in 1996, earned second place in Community Pride Magazine’s poetry and prose contest—the first poem the author ever submitted. Tempest appears here as well, including the author’s first book review.

Take My Hand and Walk With Me invites you to accompany Rickey through seasons of thought and feeling, to witness growth and to share an abiding love of poetry. Enjoy the walk.

Rooted in earthy tones and natural texture, this vase draws the eye with its layered surface and sculptural presence. Its generous shape makes it ideal for statement arrangements—or as a work of art all its own.

Take My Hand and Walk With Me is a lyrical journey through two decades of verse—new and selected poems spanning 1995–2018. This collection brings together works from earlier chapbooks—In a Little Corner of a Black Man’s Mind Stand I…, Tempest, A Heart’s Song Sung to a Friend, and the author’s first major work, In Due Season—while presenting a fresh suite of poems collected here for the first time.

Readers will find the evolution of a singular voice: from simple rhythms and candid lines to richer, more complex reflections on time, change, love, memory, and identity. In a Little Corner of a Black Man’s Mind Stand I… received recognition from the North Carolina Association of Educators Minority Arts contest in 1997, and the poem “Autumn’s Leaves,” first published in 1996, earned second place in Community Pride Magazine’s poetry and prose contest—the first poem the author ever submitted. Tempest appears here as well, including the author’s first book review.

Take My Hand and Walk With Me invites you to accompany Rickey through seasons of thought and feeling, to witness growth and to share an abiding love of poetry. Enjoy the walk.

TAKE MY HAND WALK WITH ME

Book cover with a painting of two hands clasped together set against a swirl of colors resembling Van Gogh's style, with the title 'Take My Hand Walk With Me' and author's name 'Rickey K. Hood'.

Give Me the Sky

I wish not to be as the fallen ones,
foolish angels that loved the flesh
and forsook their natural creation
of winds of mercy.

But why can’t I be
as a feather on the wind,
rising with ease
on the back of a breeze?

To go up, climb up,
higher, higher to live on high,
with the ease of the winds,
to fly and not fall.

Let the ground fall away,
let the world spin and quake,
let the earth and the oceans
fight amongst themselves…
just give me the sky.

And I shall dress myself in clouds,
bathe in the storms.

The four winds will be my consorts,
lightning my lovers.

If only I could forsake my nature of creation.
How I wish I was more than dust, more than a mortal,
a man of clay.



Ain’t No Angel

Here I am with my crooked halo,
dancin’ a jig
to some red-hot blues.

Got crooked wings
couldn’t fly straight if I wanted to,
but I can shake my tail to real cool tunes.

He’s flying high in the sky
on a wing and a prayer.
Deacon Righteous got a sweet thang,
playin’ truth or dare.

Holy sweet things, young, tender,
like pretty babies born again—
shout “Hallelujah” with lover’s passion
as the preacher moans, “Amen.”

A lover with a halo
cocked to the side—
whether deacon, preacher, or little ol’ me
with sexy, crooked wings,
there’s no place to hide.

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