Vol II: The Radical Poetry of Karl Omar Lawrence

My name is Karl With A K Omar Lawrence. I am a Bronx native and the first generation son of immigrants from a place called St.Thomas in Jamaica east of the capital where the roads are so bad it is nearly impossible for cars to drive there. I was born at Lady of Mercy hospital premature at two pounds twenty-five weeks old with a hole in my heart. In critical condition I was kept in an incubator for the next two months following where my mother could not hold me. Yet here I am by some miracle, I am convinced by the grace of a power greater than myself. I scarcely remember that time but it has left me with a deep conviction that we are given this life to make use of it, uncover our distinct genius and then share it with the world. But there is one glaring problem that stands in the way of that: what if the world reflects back to you not that you are a genius whose life is worthwhile and valuable but instead that you are a nobody who does not matter? What if the love is missing in your home and you lack a sense of belonging? What if the consistent absence of healthy food to eat, the urine in hallways and uncleaned blood stains on front steps start to make you feel unsafe, kill you self-esteem and diminish your light? Compromise your brilliance? …What if you managed to overcome it all through sheer force of willpower and imagination? Wouldn’t you have a story worth telling? I write to affirm the fact that we are not bound to the way things are–the life and the world that we inherit . If we can exercise the courage to think radically and envision an alternative possibility things can change!