Words: (26 letters that gave me my voice) - Paperback

This poetry collection by Antionette Harris is a deeply emotional and reflective journey through love, faith, Black identity, healing, loss, sensuality, memory, and spiritual awakening. Spanning works written from 1989 through 2025, the book captures the evolution of the poet's voice over decades of personal growth and lived experience.

The collection opens with poems centered on tenderness, vulnerability, and self-worth, exploring the fragile nature of the human heart and the importance of protecting one's peace. Throughout the book, Harris writes with honesty and intimacy, allowing readers to witness moments of heartbreak, romantic longing, self-discovery, and emotional resilience.

Faith and spirituality serve as powerful anchors within the collection. Poems such as "Remember Me," "Someone Asked," "My Journey Home," and "My First Breath" reflect a profound relationship with GOD, emphasizing salvation, grace, eternal peace, and the soul's journey from birth to death. These works offer comfort, hope, and reflection on mortality and divine love.

The collection also powerfully addresses the Black experience in America. In poems like "Our Blackness" and "We Prevail," Harris examines slavery, racism, systemic oppression, cultural survival, and Black resilience. These poems honor ancestral suffering while celebrating strength, identity, endurance, and the reclaiming of history and dignity. Her words blend historical truth with emotional depth, creating a voice that is both personal and collective.

Romantic passion and sensuality are explored in poems such as "I Will Always Wonder" and "Intertwined," where desire, intimacy, longing, and emotional connection are expressed with vivid imagery and vulnerability. These pieces balance tenderness with mature emotional expression, revealing another dimension of the poet's humanity.

Nature, memory, and reflection also appear prominently throughout the collection. "The Pond" revisits childhood memories and aging with warmth and nostalgia, illustrating how certain places remain spiritually connected to us throughout our lives.

Overall, this book is a heartfelt collection of poetry that speaks to the human condition through themes of love, suffering, survival, spirituality, identity, healing, and hope. Antionette Harris crafts poems that are personal yet universal, inviting readers to reflect on their own journeys while finding comfort, empowerment, and inspiration within her words.