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Wildflower: Growing From the Muck

“Let her cry for she’s a lady. Let her dream for she is a child. Let the rain fall down upon her brow. She’s a sweet and gentle flower growing wild.”                          
             O’Jays’ Wildflower

Da Diva has done it again! If you’re ready to let your mind take a stroll down memory lane and let your soul sail on the wings of love to places that touches the very depths of your emotions; then get ready for one of the hottest books of poetry to hit the public. Essence Music Festival best selling author, (“Seven Pairs of Black Shoes”) Dionne Character, aka Da Diva takes her readers on a roller coaster of  raw emotions in her latest book, “Wildflower: Growing from the Muck.”

Pulling from the depths of her “sole” and the experiences of her environment, Character gives the reader a journey into her world. Says Character, “My soul went back to where it came from and that’s the 9^th Ward.” In her short stories—which she adds at the end of her book—she references people both real, (i.e. the legendary Fats Domino, renowned trumpeter Kermit Ruffin, and comedian, playwright, actor and producer, Tyler Perry) and imaginary (i.e., Creola Red, Trudy and Cookie Brown) to give a vivid picture of the abundant talent and diverse life in the 9^th Ward of New Orleans. “All the characters are not real but symbolize some of the people I grew up with or just made up in my imagination,” says Character. “The 9^th Ward WAS full of wisdom, people, bar rooms, music and churches,” she says. She emphasizes the “WAS” showing life in the city pre-Hurricane Katrina. Character uses those experiences to paint a colorful picture of who she is, where she is from and what life was all about in her world.

“Wildflower” is by no means just about New Orleans. It speaks of love found, raw emotions, pure honesty and a few good laugh-out-loud situations. Her poems are all free verse and vary in lengths. They can be as short as one line, (i.e., Ice- The flare of his spirit made me dizzy after I lit his fire.), or as long as one to two pages, (i.e., He Rocked Her). The short stories are funny, poignant, sad, as well as, insightful.