This Too Shall Pass
by Patricia A. Saunders
This book of poetry spans the journey of life, death, grief, love, and weathering all storms. When life has thrown you curveballs and you think that it’s over, no one is there for you, or no one can love you, it is in those moments when you have to hang on. There is hope, there is love, and there is a second chance. You just have to believe that this too shall pass!
Poetry from Too Shall Pass
POEM: Bang, Bang
Bang, Bang!
As kids we played cowboys and Indians
Got older and it was cops and robbers
Bang, Bang! was so innocent
Parents would buy toy guns
Boys would pretend to shoot, get hit, fall down and die
Some things changed over the years
The games became reality
Guns are brought to schools
Drive-by shootings are killing little babies
Bang, Bang!
Someone call 911
There are killings taking place everywhere
Churches, movie theaters, college campuses, Shady Hook, Planned Parenthood
Unarmed or armed
Bang, Bang!
You’re dead!
POEM: I Melt
When I see your eyes
I fall in love all over again
Never thought I would feel like this
Though I carried you
Saw you grow within me
Seeing you lie on my chest
I Melt
When you open your eyes
Looking at me as you nurse from my breast
I smile because I love you
You are my legacy
You are my world
I Melt
The blessing of the birth of a child
Some take for granted
Some don’t want to go through it
I look at you and I can’t imagine
Your tiny fingers touch mine
And I …
I Melt
POEM: 5-Year Sentence
You had the cancer scare
You had it cut out
You had treatments
You learned how to breathe again
You were exercising
Being healthy is what you always were
Doctor said you have a 10% chance it can come back
5 years is what they told you
Let’s count together 1-2-3
So as your friends were dying off
From different types of cancer
Your mortality was in question
You started saying you lived a good life
You needed to finish everything you put on your bucket list
You were scaring your spouse
Where was your faith?
A tear ran down your cheek
You said, “I have 5 years!”
( Continued... )
© 2016 All rights reserved. Book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author, Patricia A. Saunders. Do not reproduce, copy or use without the author's written permission. This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only.
There Is Sunshine After The Rain: Making It Through Life’s Struggle by Patricia A. Saunders
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs > Women Empowerment
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Intimate Conversation with Patricia A. Saunders
Patricia A. Saunders was born and raised in Connecticut before relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area nearly twenty-five years ago. She received her Master of Management from the University of Phoenix in 2011. After the passing of her mother who had Alzheimer’s, Patricia decided that all the words she’d kept to herself were to be released.
Patricia A. Saunders released her first self-published book Through the Fire (March 2012) that covered situations, circumstances, and life lessons that have influenced her over her lifetime. On a mission to complete a book a year, she released her second book Loving Me (2013) and third Let It Rain (2014) which is also self-published and covers various topics from love, grief, self-image, self-esteem, bullying, and discovery of self-love.
BPM: How did you get to be where you are in your life today? By the faith of God because there has been challenges. Who or what motivated you?
My parents motivated me by understanding that no one can take from you what you don’t give them. When I was going through all of my storms in life I was reminded of my faith.
BPM: Who does your body of literary work speak to?
It speaks to those who have loved and been wrong, it speaks to those grieving and those who have thought about giving up.
BPM: Do you consider authors as role models?
No, I think an author is someone who sheds light on various topics and people can take from it to make decisions.
BPM: What inspired you to sit down and actually start writing this book?
I always wrote poetry as a kid but as an adult when my Mother first was diagnosed with dementia it made me think what if I get the disease what about my words. Why now? Once she passed and had Alzheimer’s my pledge was to write until the pen stopped.
BPM: What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Re-living memories of my past that were filled with laughs, good times, and sharing with focus groups.
BPM: Where do your book ideas come from?
My books are birthed out of experiences, media, and anything that strikes me. This Too Shall Pass is poetry and some of the pieces are autobiographical. Why? It was easier to release my feelings.
BPM: Could you tell us something about your most recent work?
I went through a deep depression in 2007 and three women sent me words of encouragement to hang on. I saved those notes and it inspired me to write “This Too Shall Pass” because I came through those storms. This book is now available on Nook and Kindle.
BPM: Give us some insight into your main characters or speakers. What makes each one so special?
When reading the book you can’t put it down because the emotion it takes you through. There is poetry about being in a toxic relationship, growing older, death, and faith. You want to turn the page and either relate to the situation or gather some encouragement yourself to make it through.
BPM: Are there under-represented groups or ideas featured in your book?
My mother was an ordained minister so I can’t help but write about faith yet there is struggles that I faced that I questioned God.
BPM: How does your book relate to your present situation or journey?
My book of poetry talks about adultery, Christianity, suicide, and more. A person young or old would be able to relate.
BPM: Did you learn anything personal from writing your book?
I learned that I made it through those storms that I thought would kill me. I learned that when I sat down to write the book so many words flowed that I didn’t expect.
BPM: Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?
I love my Saturday Morning Hair Salon Divas. We talk about everything and they helped me work through the pieces when telling about experiences.
BPM: What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
I wanted to write a book that another person could pick up and though it was poetry making it simple so that they got the intent, complex to keep other’s attention, and not too preachy so that everyone would get the message.
BPM: What projects are you working on at the present?
I am preparing to start working on the 5th book of poetry.
BPM: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blessedpoetpat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorPoetPatricia
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6034696.Patricia_A_Saunders
There Is Sunshine After the Rain
Making It Through Life's Struggles
by Patricia A. Saunders
Sitting there with the pieces of your life around you, there seemed to be a pattern. There was faith, love, deceit, lust, and loss—in that order. You didn’t think you were deserving of love. That is why everything was being taken from you, and you were ready to give up on life. Through your poetry, faith, and learning from your past, you can rewrite the story. It was after coming through all the experiences and being stronger, you realized there is always a new chapter.
There Is Sunshine After the Rain: Making It Through Life's Struggles will take you on the journey of a young girl growing up in Connecticut, who had to take some stumbles along the way to come into her own and realize instead of tearing herself down for the decisions she made, there is a lesson. Love is greater than anyone can imagine and can warm you like the sunshine after the rain. You went from the beginning, the journey, the test, and the testimony to say, “There Is Sunshine after the Rain.”
There Is Sunshine After The Rain
There Is Sunshine After The Rain: Making It Through Life’s Struggle
Non-fiction > Biographies & Memoirs. Black Pearls Magazine featured book.
Join the #SeducingThePenTour with Patricia A. Saunders
There Is Sunshine After The Rain Making It Through Life’s Struggle
How your past can shape your future is up to you!
As I stare at the sky and wonder, why am I here? Why is the world spinning and I feel left out? I have gone through so much: losing loved ones, wearing a fake smile to cover up the pain. And, as I take one step forward, I slip back two steps. I have gotten up and dusted the dirt off my shoulders and decided I am going to make it. I am determined to see the sunshine. I am on a journey. I am reminded after the rain has washed away my tears, that there is always sunshine after the rain.
Chapter Excerpt from There Is Sunshine After the Rain
There were men who came into my life that I loved with all my heart over the years. One man after another disappointed me for specific reasons. I found some had wandering eyes, cheated on me with my best friend while I was away at school, or I found out that they said all the right things, but their actions spoke another.
My wall went up to protect my heart and my new love became my job. I strived to be the best at whatever position I had. The people at my job were my friends, my family, and my child that I never had. There was something still that I felt missing, and it was on a trip to California that I felt my calling. I came back to tell my elderly parents that I was leaving, and it was my father who looked in my eyes and said, “I won’t always be here.”
Something in his tone let me know that it was the right decision because I needed to become independent. I had family in California, so I had support. Within two months I had given notice at my job, packed two suitcases, sold my belongings and had a one-way ticket to California. I knew no one except my family, and I slowly began to venture out to the unknown. I was working sometimes two jobs to make ends meet. Because I couldn’t go back to Connecticut. Because I didn’t want to fail.
My father’s health was declining and I would come back annually to see him. I had so much excitement to see him that I would just lie on the covers next to him. Just listening to him breathe and feeling protected from the storm. I remember like it was yesterday I came home after he had surgery. It was snowing and I went outside to shovel the snow. Being that I was the youngest, a girl, and my parents always paid a neighborhood kid to do this. Well the kids had all grown up and moved out of the neighborhood. I never had done this task of shoveling. Something that my father had done for years and made it seem like the snow was as light as a feather.
He sat and watched me and I struggled, but he stayed in the window from afar. It felt like the muscles within my chest had exploded and I was in so much pain, but I couldn’t let my parents down. I thought I had done a good job. While I was inside recovering from the ordeal, my father had changed clothes and slipped outside. Shovel in his hands and as the man of the house—no matter if he had a hole in his side, wasn’t to lift anything, and was supposed to be recuperating—he was still going to be the man and complete the task.
When I saw what he was doing, I lost it because of the fear he would injure himself. We got into the biggest argument. I was leaving the next day and we were still mad at each other. I kissed him goodbye and sat on the shuttle crying all the way to the airport. It was something within my being that knew that it was the last time I would see him. I wanted to become the protector and do everything in my power to show him I could be strong, I could provide, and I was the woman he raised me to be. He, being the proud African American patriarch of the family, not wanting to be seen weak, even in the months before his death wanting to be remembered as strong.
Within months he was in hospice, my mother had called to tell me to come home, arrangements were made. I spoke to him and he could barely whisper into the phone. I said, “Daddy, I love you. I got a new job paying me good. I will be able to take care of Mommy, it’s okay if you want to go. I was to leave on a Thursday morning and at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday while getting ready for work my mother called to tell me his condition. She placed me on hold because another call was coming in. She came back on the line, and I could tell by her tone something was wrong. I said, “Mommy, what’s wrong” and she said, “They said he’s expired.” She had to get off the phone and go to be with the man she called Honey. She had to see him before he was gone.
I sat naked on the bed, called my sister who lived close by, and said, “Daddy’s gone.” She rushed to my apartment and there I sat in shock. She helped me get dressed, she hugged me while I wept, and she took control of my life for the next seventy-two hours. She placed calls to get me home immediately, few words came out of my mouth, and she took time away from her family to bring me home. It was a blur from that point on while preparing for the funeral, making sure my queen was taken care of, and my king was laid to rest.
My father died eight days before my birthday and we laid him to rest on St. Patrick’s Day, aka, St. Patty’s Day. As I delivered his eulogy, I recited all the accolades about this man we all loved. The question that I proposed to the group was “Who will have my back now”? The minister, from the podium, answered "God will always have my back.”
As we drove to his final resting place, my brothers, nephews, and grandnephews came to hug me, each whispering in my ear that they would always have my back. The tears flowed, and my father was lowered into the ground as I said my final goodbye.
( Continued… )
Purchase There Is Sunshine After The Rain: Making It Through Life’s Struggle
Genre: Poetry > Non-fiction > Biographies & Memoirs > Women
Black Pearls Magazine Chats with Patricia A. Saunders
Patricia A. Saunders was born and raised in Connecticut before relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area nearly twenty-five years ago. She received her Master of Management from the University of Phoenix in 2011. After the passing of her mother who had Alzheimer’s, Patricia decided that all the words she’d kept to herself were to be released.
Saunders has released her latest book titled There Is Sunshine After The Rain: Making It Through Life’s Struggles (2018), a biography that is infused with poetry. It captivates the reader into the life of the author from growing up in Connecticut and the decisions that shaped her life.
Patricia A. Saunders released her first self-published book Through the Fire (March 2012) that covered situations, circumstances, and life lessons that have influenced her over her lifetime. On a mission to complete a book a year, she released her second book Loving Me (2013) and third Let It Rain (2014) which is also self-published and covers various topics from love, grief, self-image, self-esteem, bullying, and discovery of self-love.
BPM: What made you want to become a writer?
As a kid I was always writing poetry to express myself and stopped. Once my mother passed from Alzheimer’s, I thought about what my legacy would be if I inherited the disease. How would my words be kept? I started writing and the rest is history. I published my first book in 2012, but I have poems from when I was a child that was printed in newspapers and yearbooks.
BPM: How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
I would write for different blogs and submit for different projects to hone my skills. I had to learn by trial and error. Taking webinars to challenge my creativity helped so much. I was always afraid to write nonfiction, but I had a story to share, so I took a leap of faith and here it is.
BPM: Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?
I feel like it’s therapeutic. It helped me through the grieving process.
BPM: How has writing and poetry impacted your life?
While writing on various subjects from being molested, raped to doubting my faith, I became free enough to use different styles of poetry as a way to share my stories with the world. My drive to create was enhanced by the different editors who challenged me to use my words to touch someone’s life.
BPM: What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
That someone else has experienced what I went through; men and women reach out to me and let me know they felt each emotion with me.
BPM: How do you find or make time to write?
I jot down story ideas on the memo app on my cell phone, so that when I have quiet time I can write. Also, if something impacts me like seeing a shooting on the news I must write about it.
BPM: How did you choose the genre you write in?
I was afraid to write nonfiction and I was comfortable with poetry. Writing this nonfiction book came to me like putting on a pair of comfortable slippers. Fear be gone!
BPM: Have you considered writing in another genre?
I have written a chapter in a book of non-fiction on bullying. So, when a reader suggested that I expand my writing to let the reader know the behind scene it was like God said don’t be afraid. I signed up in November to write 50,000 words and I made an outline. The words came along with the tears.
BPM: Tell us about your most recent work, There is Sunshine After the Rain.
There is Sunshine After the Rain is an autobiography with poetry infused in it. I have chapters titledThe Beginning, The Journey, The Test and The Testimony. After each chapter are interludes that have poetry. I feel it is my best work! The readers follow my life, the struggles I experienced and the triumph of making it through life’s struggles. Yes, it’s available on Nook and Kindle.
BPM: What was your hardest scene to write?
Writing about leaving for college and experiencing date rape was traumatizing at first. The bond between my parents to protect me came flooding back to me. I wrote about it and it was like I relived the whole experience. By writing about something that happened over 30 years ago, I shared with readers how it shaped the woman that I am today and the choices I have made about relationships.
BPM: Share one specific point in your book that resonated with your present situation or journey.
I also wrote about working in a hostile work environment and how my upbringing was instilled in me that you never quit. The stress of the job was making me sick. I had to seek help to know it was okay to walk away and that God and my family had my back.
BPM: Is there a specific place/space that you find inspiration in?
I love being by the water. Looking at the wonders of God inspires me to pick up my journal and let the words flow. I also write majority of my books at my kitchen table with soft music playing, candles burnings and a nice glass of wine.
BPM: Are there certain themes or ideas you’d love to work with?
I find that majority of my books are about overcoming challenges and the victory found in remembering faith will bring you through.
BPM: Does writing energize you?
Writing gives me an inner peace. I find that when I write and go through some hard circumstances that I am faced with that I must remember that God is always there.
BPM: Do you believe in writer’s block?
Oh yes! I had it last year I couldn’t finish the book. I booked a flight back to Connecticut and it was the first time in ten years that I wanted to visit my mother’s grave. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, but the people who stepped into my life at that time to encourage me, love on me, and make me laugh had me finishing the book on the flight back to California.
BPM: Do you try to deliver to readers what they want or let the characters guide your writing?
I write and hope that the vision I had when I wrote the book resonates with the reader. When the reviews come in that they got it I am overwhelmed with joy!
BPM: Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
I touch on everything. In this last book, I put it all out there.
BPM: Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others?
Love. The desire to be loved and not taken advantage of. The fear of dying alone. It’s real not imaginary so it’s more difficult.
BPM: What projects are you working on at the present?
Right now, I am promoting my latest book. Also writing titles of poems that I want to write about. I haven’t put the sixth book in the works yet, but the year isn’t over.
BPM: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Website: http://www.patriciaAsaunders.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blessedpoetpat
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/blessedpoetpat
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/blessedpoetpat
Blog: http://www.blessedpoetpat.blogspot.com
Purchase There Is Sunshine After The Rain: Making It Through Life’s Struggle by Patricia A. Saunders
https://www.amazon.com/There-Sunshine-After-Rain-Struggles-ebook/dp/B078J836Q3
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