By: Javier Sarmiento Jr.
Thank you to this author for providing me a gifted copy of this poetry book!
This was a different type of read for me – I don’t read poetry often, but I do enjoy it. This book of poetry is about the daily experiences as a resident of Harlem. It is short, but it starts off with a powerful bang as you experience Harlem through Javier’s eyes. You can almost picture him sitting by a window, looking out and just seeing poverty everywhere and penning his poem.
He lets you into everyday life in Harlem, what’s it like to fear. Knowing that a fellow resident may not make it home that day because of hatred due to their skin color or because a police officer thought someone was resisting arrest. How scary that must be to live life like that every day.
We also feel Javier’s triumph. His ability to go to college, to “get out”, to “make something of himself”, to win writing awards, and we celebrate with him. It goes without saying that it’s fantastic, but we can’t forget that there are still people out there living like Javier did when he was growing up. So the message can’t be lost that we need to do better, and treat people kinder.
If you’re interested in reading this short book of poems, it’s available now. It’s also on Kindle Unlimited. You can find it here.
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