“Rainer Maria Rilke greeted and wrestled with the angels of his Duino Elegies in the solitude of a castle surrounded by white cliffs tall trees and the sea. I greeted most of mine in the solitude of a house that still vibrated with the throbs of a singular life that had helped shape many lives and with the ache of attempts to render useful service to that life. The River of Winged Dreams was therefore constructed as a link between dimensions of past and future emotions and intellect and matter and spirit.”
Aberjhani“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 laid the foundation for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but it also addressed nearly every other aspect of daily life in a would-be free democratic society.”
Aberjhani“The reality of a serious writer is a reality of many voices, some of them belonging to the writer, some of them belonging to the world of readers at large.”
Aberjhani“A poet is a verb that blossoms light in gardens of dawn, or sometimes midnight.”
Aberjhani“A world without poetry and art would be too much like one without birds or flowers: bearable but a lot less enjoyable.”
Aberjhani, Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry“The gentle pulsing and flickering of stars and nebulae made a kind of music, a sweet easy mesh of whispered tones and sighing harmonies that held him in its force like the earth [holding] the moon.”
Aberjhani, Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player“The job facing American voters… in the days and years to come is to determine which hearts, minds and souls command those qualities best suited to unify a country rather than further divide it, to heal the wounds of a nation as opposed to aggravate its injuries, and to secure for the next generation a legacy of choices based on informed awareness rather than one of reactions based on unknowing fear.”
Aberjhani, Illuminated Corners: Collected Essays and Articles Volume I.“Individuals often turn to poetry, not only to glean strength and perspective from the words of others, but to give birth to their own poetic voices and to hold history accountable for the catastrophes rearranging their lives.”
Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays“Sandra L. West and Aberjhani have compiled an encyclopedia that makes an important contribution to our need to know more about one of modern America’s truly significant artistic and cultural movements. It helps us to acknowledge the complexity of African American life at a time when the nation’s culture was taking on a recognizable shape, when race was becoming less of a crushing burden and more of a challenge to progressive people and their ideals, and when cities and their inhabitants symbolized the end of the past and the seductiveness of the new.”
Clement Alexander Price, Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance“Even when muddy your wings sparkle bright wonders that heal broken worlds.”
Aberjhani, The River of Winged Dreams“The dancing vortex of a sacred metaphor clashes horns and halos to make wounded music set to the tempo of a new era in brilliant labor.”
Aberjhani, The River of Winged Dreams