Recrudescence: Poems in the Key of Black is an eclectic collection of free-verse work poetry, a journey of blackness in the past and even now. The poems are illustrative—they bring many images to mind and they make intangible concepts feel tangible. The section “Knife” is open and real dealing with the male voyage through prostate cancer and its aftermath and the rawness of postsurgery life. Family, the calm of nature, and an intimate observation of people whose lives hold special meaning give depth to the collection as does the author’s personal insight gathered from living in a complex world. The concluding trilogy “Mama Dear” and the poetic memoir “Hallelujah Anyhow” are the author’s reminiscence about the mother he never knew because of her tragic early death. As one reader of the manuscript wrote, “I felt like I knew your mother . . . you truly captured who she was, her life, her sentiments and showed the effects of her presence and absence.”
