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An advantage of living close to a public library is having the opportunity to look at the "new books" shelf and pick out a work that one would otherwise be unlikely to find. So it is with this new collection of poems, "Sweet Solitude" (2010) by Leonard Slade Jr., which I found on the shelves of the local library and decided to explore. Slade (b. 1942) was raised in rural North Carolina and returns to his roots frequently in his poems. He earned a PhD in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, taught for many years at Kentucky State University, and currently is Professor of Africana Studies, Adjunct Professor of English at the University of Albany -- SUNY.
Slade has published 13 volumes of poetry beginning in 1988. "Sweet Solitude", the 13th volume includes selections from the earlier collections together with a group of new poems. Slade's poetry does not fit readily into current academic schools. It is simple, direct, colloquial, and easy to read. The poems are short, and Slade also generally uses short lines. He uses rhyme on occasion.
Most of the poems deal broadly with the African American experience while also exhibiting a great deal of variety. Some of the poems are abstract and philosophical, but Slade usually does better when he addresses a concrete subject. He offers critiques of subtle and not-so-subtle forms of racism, but the overall tone is one of optimism and hope for the United States. His poems show admiration for figures including Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Barrack Obama ("The Vision of America"), but they also speak of his intimates, including his wife, father, and friends. Some of the poems are brief vignettes or character studies ("Reverend Hotair", "Boss Hogg"). Love of learning is a theme in several poems ("His Professor", "Bury Yourself Now"). The author is fond of nature and of animals, wild ("The Whipping Song", "The Geese") and domestic ("Cat", "Claudia back Home") Sexual love and the fear of death play important roles, but the most prominent theme of the book is religious commitment and the poet's love for traditional African American religious expression.
With its colloquialism and ease, this collection is mixed. Some of the poems seemed to me awkward or conventional, but much of the collection is very good. I enjoyed the book more as I continued to work through it. The religious poems are varied and usually successful. I enjoyed "The Country Preacher's Folk Prayer" which captures a rural church service, "How Great You Are", which shows a deep religiosity in spite of its conventional title, "Innocence in Black and White" which describes the poet and a white girl of 5 taking communion together, and the late poem "Deacon", among others.
The poem "Lilacs in Spring", with the title's allusion to Whitman, is the best of several poems that celebrate Abraham Lincoln. The poem "Like Douglass" is a tribute to the great 19th Century African American leader in which Slade also expresses his own Douglass-like hope for the United States. Slade's poem concludes:
"Like Douglass, I share biting truth, but
you open my heart, hoping for change, although
I smile at you through wrinkles of blood -- you,
my sweet home, stir me to tears."
In a short poem called, "Black Philosophy", seems to sum up much of his attitude towards life. The poem concludes:
"Gems of thought
and the love of wisdom
make man precious
make man free"
Another fine poem is called "Jazz after Dinner" in which the poet celebrates friendship, music, and the joy of life. The poem is short:
"On a snowy evening I shall feel his sounds,
Quietly moaning, inviting cold air to listen,
Call pleasure from golden keys. Old friends
Will kiss their company, sit to relax and dream.
And music, crying like an elderly man,
That sometimes after sunrise greets the morning
Will pervade the world, profusely fill
That evening and me, celebrating life."
A final poem that deserves mention, but which I won't quote here, is "Grapes", a short still-life which reminded me of some of the poetry of W.C. Williams.
It is a pleasure to discover an author for oneself. Readers interested in African American poetry will enjoy this collection of poems by Leonard Slade.
