Retired after nearly 38 years as a STEM production editor, trainer, and team leader for a local printer/publisher, I now have the time and energy to pursue my love of writing, music, and other arts. My writing is primarily in the form of essays, book and film reviews, and poems. I am also a musician---a vocalist who plays piano, organ, guitar, and flutes. My music can be found on this page, as well as on Facebook and YouTube.
Reflections: My Journey on Arunah, A Memoir by Rosearl Julian West Copy Editor: Christine McKeeFormat Editor: Jacquelyn O. Oldham © 2023 by Rosearl J. WestISBN 9798391773108 Release Date: April 19, 2023 Available for Purchase on Amazon.com [Order from this link, Reflections: My Journey on Arunah: West, Rosearl Julian, McKee, Christine, Oldham, Jacquelyn, Julian Jr., Emerson … More Publication Announcement
Like a toddler being tossed into the shallow end of the pool for his first swim, I was tossed into the shallow end of the poetry pool four years ago, when I joined my first online poetry group on Facebook. One group led to another, and before I knew it, I had joined a half-dozen … More My Take on “The Poetry Biz”
Time flies! It’s already the middle of January—but this first post of 2023 marks the beginning of Year 9 for this blog. When I posted my first article on December 27, 2014, all I knew was that I needed a space to share my thoughts and observations about how the world affected this Black woman … More Happy 2023 from baltimoreblackwoman
Poem #11—the final poem in this series—is titled “Chaos – 2022” [http://www.minyanmag.com/jackieoldham.html]. Published October 27, 2022 in Minyan Magazine, it is an updated occasional poem originally written in 2020, with the title “Chaos,” for the annual Poetry Shabbat at Beth Am Synagogue in Baltimore, which occurs shortly after Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year). Due … More Fall 2022 Poetry Reading Series, #11X
Poem #10 is titled “All These Things Are Broken” [https://spillwords.com/all-these-things-are-broken/], published August 17, 2022 in Spillwords Press. It was written on July 16, 2022, after friend and poet Scott Ferry posted the title as a prompt to write a new poem. This reading was recorded on December 30, 2022.
Poem #9 is “Ode to Lucille Clifton” [June 28, 2022, in A Lovely Place, A Fighting Place, A Charmer: The Baltimore Anthology (Belt Publishing, Cleveland, OH], my first contribution to a book! It is also one of numerous poems I’ve been commissioned or asked to write for a specific occasion or project. “Occasional poems,” as … More Fall 2022 Poetry Reading Series, #9
The eighth poem in this series is “Our Bodies, Our Rights” [Poem by Jackie Oldham – oddball magazine-3], published by Oddball Magazine on June 27, 2022. Written and submitted on June 26th, this poem was a response to the events of June 24th, the dark day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. … More Fall 2022 Poetry Reading Series, #8
The seventh poem in this series is “Of Their Own Time Immemorial” [https://spillwords.com/of-their-own-time-immemorial/], published by Spillwords Press on February 12, 2022. It was written on December 29, 2021, after a twilight-sleep catnap on my living room couch. This reading was recorded on December 21, 2022. There are only 4 more poems left to share in … More Fall 2022 Poetry Reading Series, #7
The sixth poem in this series is “Our Latest Fashion Accessories…” [https://www.rigorous-mag.com/v5i4/jackie-oldham.html]. It appeared in Rigorous Magazine on December 31, 2021. The impetus for this poem was the constant use of the phrase “our black and brown people” by everyone from cable news hosts to friends. This reading was recorded on December 3, 2022.
The fifth poem in this series—and my third and final poem published in Global Poemic—is “Brood X Symphony (The 17-Year Cicadas)” [https://globalpoemic.wordpress.com/2021/07/12/brood-x-symphony-the-17-year-cicadas/]. It appeared on July 12, 2021, during the Covid pandemic, but its subject was a different scourge I was facing that summer: the dreaded 17-year cicadas! In my lifetime, I had already encountered … More Fall 2022 Poetry Reading Series, #5
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