The PBS Blog

When the Truth is Stranger than Fiction

Poetry

October 20, 2020

The Mistake

This poem was inspired by Maya Angelou’s “We Wear the Mask,” and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Mask.” We define grief as tears, not smiles heartbreaking groans, and complaints an emotion-gripped body that bends and aches a display of physical pain is how we mistake what it means to grieve. We lookout for people who are visibly… Continue reading

Poetry

#TuesdayShares, angelou, assumptions, blog, blogger, blogging, courage, depression, Dunbar, grief, health, life, mask, maya angelou, mental health, mistake, pain, Paul Laurence Dunbar, sadness, strength, strong, wisdom, wordpress
September 17, 2020

90s Throwback Thursday Jams- TLC – Unpretty

I learned from their documentary on Netflix that this started as a poem written by Tionne “T-Boz.” Continue reading

Poetry, Throwback Thursday Jams

#TeamNatural, #ThrowbackThursday, 90s Jams, beauty, life lessons, love, pretty, self worth, self-esteem, self-love, standards, TLC, Unpretty, videos, YouTube
September 14, 2020

My Soul is a Witness is LIVE

Good Day Freedom Readers! My Soul is a Witness is LIVE. Amazon Signed Paperback Goodreads About. My Soul is a Witness, a collection of poems that reminds us that there is still hope in our darkest moments. Nothing we go through is without a purpose. No pain we suffer, and no trial we experience happens… Continue reading

Poetry, self-publishing

#amreading, #amwriting, #MySoulisaWitness, amazon, artist, black readers, black writers, blog, blogger, blogging, goodreads, KDP, kindle, poems, poet, poetic, poetry, soul, Soulful, spirit, spiritual, spoken word, witness, wordpress
August 18, 2020

The Wait is Over

I’ve been working on this collection of poetry since I released I am Soul three years ago. So much as happened in that time that most of this year feels like it happened years ago. It feels like Kobe Bryant died in 2019, but then I remember that tragedy happened earlier this year. I have… Continue reading

creative writing, Poetry

#MySoulisaWitness, #TuesdayShares, blog, blogger, blogging, courage, experience, overcoming, poems, poetic, poetry, soul, Soulful, strength, Struggles, trial, wisdom, wordpress
August 13, 2020

Do Not Write a Poem

Do not set out to write a poem. Strip yourself of all the education you think will make you a good writer, and undress all the fluff you believe constitutes a good poem. Write only what is in your heart at this exact moment—every thread of thought and every emotion you have not the courage… Continue reading

creative writing, Poetry

#amwriting, #ThankfulThursday, authenticity, blog, blogger, blogging, creativity, emotions, feelings, heart, heartfelt, how to, poems, poetic, poetry, Soulful, soulwork, Thursday Thoughts, vulnerable, writers, writing
July 3, 2020

His Skin

Handsome does not conjure the strength succulent enough to uncover the sun underneath his skin. Shame on those who sexualize him. Who sees his body as cheap and public. Who does he think he is, being darker than a brown paper bag? Sometimes they notice him like the sun swinging in the sky and still,… Continue reading

Poetry

black men, blog, blogger, blogging, color, dark skin, his skin, poetic, poetry, shade, skin tones, tone, wordpress
June 10, 2020

Will There Be a Fire Next Time?

“I am very worried about the state of the civilization which produced that photograph of the white cop standing on that Negro woman’s neck in Birmingham in 1963.” – Lorraine Hansberry Fifty years from now, when you do not see protests on the news, sixty years from now, when George Floyd’s blood has dried up,… Continue reading

Poetry

#SundayBlogShare, Ahmaud Arbery, black lives matter, Black Power, blog, blogger, blogging, Breonna Taylor, Civil Rights, fire, freedom, George Floyd, heat, Hebrews, israel, movement, passion, poetic, power, spoken word, truth, wordpress

About Me

My name is Yecheilyah (e-see-li-yah), and my work confronts historical erasure and advocates for a more inclusive understanding of Black history. Through book reviews and poetry contests, I uncover and preserve the rich, often underrepresented stories of African Americans.