My Poetry Corner November 2017 features the poem “If I Had My Way” from the poetry collection, Life’s Many Faces: Fun-on-the-Run (2013), by Yvonne Sam, a Guyanese-born poet, nurse, educator, and community volunteer. For the past forty years, she lives in Canada where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, following a thirteen-year nursing career in England. To fill a need for teachers in her community in Montreal, she later obtained a Masters in Education and a Diploma in Adult Education.

While Yvonne Sam maintains a light tone throughout her collection, she does not shy away from injecting an irreverent tone or strong moral convictions when dealing with life’s controversial issues. As a black woman and teacher, she urges “Black Youth” to get an education, to stay in school. She propels them forward in her poem:

So move on black youth let not your mind tire
Education must serve as an unquenchable fire
With passage of time it will speak and attest
Of a proud black youth and one of the best Continue reading →