UNEARTHING US
Poems and Practices for Discovering Our Fullest Selves
By Joe Davis
There is something about Spoken Word that is deeply personal, engaging, and compelling. In my previous review, Rev. Dr. Thomas L. Nins stated that “poets have always stood in the forefront of a revolution.” In so many ways, poets are our modern-day griots. Transformation and embodying all of who we are in the best ways is an ongoing process; the inspiration and catalysts can come from anywhere in the world and from anyone.
I had the honor and opportunity to attend the launch of the amazing performing artist Joe Davis’ latest collection of poems Unearthing Us: Poems and Practices for Discovering Our Fullest Selves. The inspiration for this collection came from a recent visit to Jamaica, the island of his maternal roots. His collection has three sections: Plant (poems for planting seeds), Grow (poems for growth), and Flourish (poems for creating abundance). Being a most engaging poet, Unearthing Us is interactive, with each poem followed by an Unearthing Practice. The Unearthing Practices encourage us to take a deep dive into who we are, our relationship to family, community, and the earth.
In his words, Davis invites readers “to envision a world planted with possibility, growth, and flourishing.” As a performing artist, his positive energy is infectious, and at the end of his readings, he invited us to write down the names of people who were/are Possibility Models in our lives. Think of the people who planted the seeds of possibility in you by their example, who inspired you to grow, who saw the best in you. He beautifully makes the correlation between the garden and soil of the earth to that of our minds and Davis is the founder and director of Finding Your Freedom Practice, which is “an arts education program that activates hip-hop, Spoken Word, creative writing, and theater as tools for holistic wellness.” If you ever get an opportunity to check out his show, you are in for a treat; it is something for all ages.
Unearthing Us is Davis’ third poetry collection, and it is available through Amazon, Spark House (wearesparkhouse.org), and his website, Thank you, Joe, for your words that fill us with healing, wellness, discovery, and infinite possibility!
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham is a native son of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in psychology from Luther College, and he was an original member of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning ensemble, Sounds of Blackness. He has also been recognized by the International Society of Poets as one of its “Best New Poets of 2003,” is a guest writer for journalist/author/entertainer Wyatt O’Brian Evans.
