Poems of my Salvation

About the Book

Poetry has always been a savior of sorts to me.  When my feelings began to overwhelm me I just found a pen and paper and it all went away until the next time.  

I was the eighth of my mother’s nine children.  Being among the youngest I absorbed quite a bit of energy from my older siblings, all of whom left home before I was nine leaving me with quite a bit to figure out on my own.  The family moved around rather often never settling for more than a few short years in one neighborhood.  Dealing with social isolation, fractured friendships and the onslaught of the culture of youth was all too familiar to me.

Attending college at Howard University exclusively provided some relief in that it was the only undergraduate school I attended.   Ironically that is when the flow of many of the enclosed poems really began. Through the years of my twenties and early thirties, I worked in different fields, never really feeling in my element or at my potential.  There was a fair degree of self-doubt and sadness that I experienced during these times that led to bouts with depression and panic attacks which were downright crippling at times.

My poems helped me through much of this and I truly believe gave me the strength to fight on and attain greater inner peace and happiness. I later earned my Masters degree in Teaching and am now a teacher who seeks not only to provide the best education I can, but also make it my personal duty to teach all my students to treat themselves and others with compassion.     

About the Author

Neils C. Dunn is a teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland.  He has been writing poetry since he was a child living in Washington, D.C.  He is also an accomplished musician who enjoys playing jazz, ballads and blues.