FOREWORD
When pains are unleashed, they can be endured better. Venting is good. Unloading your emotions is good. Breathe work helps release negative emotions, and writing can help one exercise their mindset to free their thoughts.
This is what Jacqueline did in her works. She unloaded, and
that made her feel good. The mastery and artistry she displays in her works
reveal the undying hopes she reflects here and there, showing that one cannot
give way to despair. It doesn’t matter how dark the night gets—there must be
dawn. The birds must chirp, and the bees must pollinate. So, life must
continue, and one has to be alive with hope to be in it.
The title of this book, inspired by poem thirty, Diamonds
Are Not Forever, from my point of view, came as a result of one loving
something precious and wishing to get hold of that for a very long time in this
world, but it surely doesn’t last, and may be lost when someone needs it most.
Jacqueline writes what she feels and is so accessible that she doesn’t hold
back her emotions, which are reflected strongly in her writing. She is not
afraid to be judged by others as weak. This is a show of strength. It is not
easy to muster up such courage. Many people will bottle up their emotions and
die in silence or show a pseudo-power that doesn’t exist – a false one that
doesn’t stand the slightest tensile test. This reminds me of a force called Van
der Waals, which is regarded as the weakest force but is so powerful that it
enables the wall gecko to run upside down on walls. Even the mighty crocodile
cannot do it.
Some of the works in this poem may seem to have themes and
motifs that revolve around this sense. Still, one should not see this work as a
lamentation or song of agony but instead see that thin lining like icing on a
cake, the tinge of hope and courage encoded in the poems that show that one can
find the power to rise above all travails, especially when they know how to tap
into the power from above.
A diamond cutter requires intensive training to
start cutting and polishing a diamond. Much more than talent is needed in specialized
crafts like diamond cutting; it requires paying careful attention to detail, so
understanding poetry requires reading the meaning of every fine line. As a
poet, I can decipher quality poems that deliver meanings like a hard thump.
Take it from me when I assure you of utmost satisfaction, reading Jacqueline’s
poetry collection like a master wine taster savoring a rare Domaine de la
Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 1945. And please don’t see my claim as that of blowing
a vuvuzela – after all, an old, experienced dancer never ages in a longstanding
dance step she has been familiar with all her life.
Love resonates in Jacqueline’s poems, as do heartbreak
and heartaches.
One more thing of note is that Jacqueline is
proud to declare faith in this world where many are embarrassed to do so. And I
cannot pronounce this as odd because we all live by showing some form of faith
every day, without which we can never get by each day. For example, it takes
faith to book a flight and board the plane with a pilot you never knew if that
was his first flight, his biography, whether he was trained well or faked his
certificate, where he got his flight training or qualifications, or the
evidence of all his successful flights since they started flying planes. Yet,
you believe they will take you successfully to your destination on the risky
journey high up in the sky. And who would doubt that a complicated life force
must have a source? Enjoy reading.
– Okechukwu Okugo The Founding Editor and Publisher at
Heartmenders Magazine Media Inc., New York
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