From My Heart To Yours

James Monroe Johnson has written poems since childhood.  His compilations of poetic works can now be read and enjoyed in both this volume and his previous book, Just To Spend A Little Time With You: A Lifetime of Writing Poetry  (also by 1stBooks), where Johnson tells of the experiences in his life, including love, war, world travels and dreams.

Johnson estimates he has written more than 1,000 poems in his lifetime.  Starting with humble beginnings in rural Bellefontaine, Mississippi.  His poems capture his experiences in Australia, Thailand, the Florida Everglades, the Tennessee Mountains, British fog, Germany, France, Mobile, Alabama and Los Angeles.    Johnson  also  writes  extensively about his two tours of duty as a soldier in Vietnam.  He speaks  of  love,  from  the  magic and bliss of new passion to the aches and pains of bitter endings.

In publishing his work,  he  hopes to open readers’ eyes to those things he’s seen,  felt and dreamed throughout his life. The poem, “About Me” as illustrated in his first book, shows his vivid style:

“I am me/a black, a man/I was a black before I was a man/I am tall,  light and  tan/slightly heavy/no more moderate to medium/I am educated slightly, common sensical/artistic and poetic, instinctively . . . I have many thoughts/few ideas/envious of nobody/jealous of no one/follower of few/leader of none/I identify with everybody/but I am me,  a realist and a dreamer/and now/you think you know me!”

Johnson is the youngest of 12 children.  After growing up in smalltown USA, he attended junior college and upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Army.  He fought in Vietnam, and later, attended the University of Miami.  Selected pieces of his works have been set to music and performed by musicians, church choirs and gospel groups.  Returning to his native Mississippi, he currently resides in Starkville.