BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – YEARS of expressing herself through writing and the creation of poems have resulted in Sandy Pointer Mercia Bassue publishing her work in a book of poems which she named “Revelation for Restoration”.
The book – which contains 70 of Bassue’s pieces – was published and while it has yet to be released in printed format, it is already available in electronic format via the iBookstore.
SKNVibes recently spoke with Bassue – a Social Studies teacher at the Charles E. Mills Secondary School (CEMMS) - and she was very candid about the experiences which led her to this point and the development of her writing skills.
Writing was a necessity
After experiencing difficulty expressing herself verbally, Bassue turned to good old “pen and paper” to express her thoughts and emotions. She said she found that it boosted her creativity.
“As long as I wanted to tell my mother something, I always had to express it in writing… I found that I would write simple things even in school and for some reason to me it is simple by my teachers would be impressed about it. There is a certain creative aspect about me that I’ve found and I would be called upon impulsively and I would just make up something and dramatize it and that sort of thing. And I realised that it was something that I have inside of me.”
Inspiration for the book
Bassue told this publication that this is the third book she has written although it is the first to be published.
And the inspiration for this book of poems – she explained – came as the result of a difficult period in her life.
“I was in the world, a sinner, getting knocked about, men, etc… And I realised God was transforming me and so I basically was forced to be by myself. The lot of friends that I had, I realised I just no longer had them and I would find myself sitting down and writing.
“I had a lot of difficulties with my own daughter… I felt that a lot of the work that she was being taught was irrelevant and I decided I would write a Social Studies book for primary schools which I have written also but not published. I realised in writing the book, I was always writing poems. I would come home from church and I would just get the words to write different poems.”
She said one night she awoke from sleep and was moved to tears while thinking of a friend who was she said was convicted of a crime he did not commit. Bassue – a Christian – said she wrote a letter to that friend at the end of which she wrote a poem
“It was like God was telling me exactly what to say to him. So I wrote him a letter and at the end of it I told him the poem would become part of a book of poems I was going to write…I thought, wow, this is what God wants me to be doing because every situation I encounter, I would write a poem.”
She said for some strange reason when she told her friend that the poem was part of a book of poems, she had no plans of doing so but was yielding to the will of God.
Three books
The first book Bassue wrote is “Update Your Status” which is more than 100 positive expressions and affirmation which one can use to encourage themselves or others. And the second book is the Social Studies Test Book for Primary Schools, both of which have yet to be published.
But Bassue expressed that there are plans afoot to have them published in the not-too-distant future.
Why an e-book?
Completed since early February 2014, Bassue said she began researching publishers for her book of poems and decided to do business with LuLu.com. But because all transactions were done over the telephone and via the internet, the process was “very difficult”.
Anxious to see the finished product, Bassue took the decision to – for the time being – publish her book in e-format and leave the physical printing for a later time.
Categorised into sections of Dedications, Worship, Deliverance, Anointing & Calling and Kingdom Living, the e-book is on sale for US$10 via the iBookstore and Lulu.com
