Seashells

About the Book

This book is the product of a long process of poetic evolution. The oldest poem was written more than a quarter century ago; the most recent, mere weeks ago.

The book is divided into six sections. Part 1, entitled The Poet, contains the most personal and introspective poems of the collection. Part 2, The Caribbean Homeland, addresses experiences and themes derived from Trinidad, the land of my birth. Part 3, the most extensive, is entitled The North American Experience, and the poems are outgrowths of my experiences in the US which span a period of twenty-eight years. Part four is entitled The Human Condition. The title, I believe, is self-explanatory. Part five, entitled On A Lighter Note, contains half a dozen poems which rely for their effect on humor and refuse to take themselves too seriously. Part six contains ten Haiku, none of which deals with Caribbean themes, unlike the three I include in part two.

About the Author

René A. Martin, a professor of English at Miami-Dade Community College in Florida, is from Trinidad and Tobago. He earned his degrees from Howard University in Washington, D.C. He has been reading his poetry in south Florida for several years, including a 1997 reading at the Miami Book Fair.