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Reviewed by Vernita Naylor for Readers' Favorite
Raw pain and suffering is what Pain Living In My Pen: The Untold Truth of A Street Poet by Maurice Bishop reflects. It exposes feelings and emotions of the life that he has experienced with beautiful illustrations by Harris Figures. Maurice displays over thirty poems of grit and the rawness of life, interjecting spiritual principles to bring the point home. This is a great testament to others that have experienced trauma, yet are still spiritual or believers. He shows that only through God was he able to overcome this pain, and that as we live this spirit filled life, we are always seeking answers. Poems such as Love Poetry for My Wife, Drunk in Love and Betrayal display the ups and downs and ins and outs that Maurice experienced. Maurice wanted to become transparent and share this part of himself because it started his healing process. As healing takes place, forgiveness can begin.
When reading the first poem, Molestation, I was in shock. Maurice gripped my psyche with his strained, innocent, raw emotions of being sexually abused by his uncle as a child. I felt the betrayal of his uncle’s violation, his anger at God, and his desire to just die. He wanted to die so that his eight-year-old body wouldn't have to feel and relive the pain that his uncle continued to inflict on his tender soul. If you are seeking a way to jump start your healing process, read Pain Living In My Pen: The Untold Truth of A Street Poet by Maurice Bishop, and you will see throughout your journey, struggles and spiritual walk that God is there and you are not alone.
