Thug Life Army

Be it in a hip-hop song, a rap track or from the spoken word artist; poetry has strong roots in the hip-hop culture.

The precision and elegance of a poet's words can make readers pause to appreciate their own perceptions or examine their feelings. Whether you are an avid poetry reader or a fan of spoken word poetry, there is something to be said for a poet's writing style that transcends the limits of confined paper pages and still delivers passion on the "open-mic" stage. This can describe the work of one new poet Mikaylah Simone and her book of poetry "My Manufactured English."

Mikaylah is an emerging African-American poet whose simple, yet visceral, style brings poetry back to its basics as a social art through her affirmation of cultural identity and personal redemption.

Leaving her Texas beginnings, New York soon became the ideal stage for her "one-woman show" of life. From the "Lone Star" (unfashionably dressed in black skin), to the "Big Apple" where black is "vogue" on the Harlem runway. Mikaylah's poetry communicates consciousness and passion out of her strong desire to transform thoughts and experiences into art.

Mikaylah was recently interviewed at BooksoftheYear.com. A portion of the interview may be read below. Visit their web site to read the entire thought provoking interview with Mikaylah Simone HERE .

BooksoftheYear.com: Who and/or what have been your biggest influences with regard to your writing and why?

Mikaylah Simone: Well…it has been a fifty/fifty between internal and external; people, places, and events included. I’ve heard that "out of great emotion comes great art," so it wasn’t until I experienced something life altering that I began to seriously write. The rest are my observations of what goes on around me, significant events in life that I wanted to give a voice to.

BooksoftheYear.com: Congratulations on your debut book of poetry, "My Manufactured English." What inspired you to put together this collection of poetry?

Mikaylah Simone: I wanted to talk about the difficult issues that cause passion and anger in most while creating enlightenment for others; looking at what we have become and what we are becoming. After knowing the truth, can you really hide behind ignorance and look at yourself in the mirror the same? Most would ask me "Why not start with something small like a poet’s Chap Book?" Ugggh…NO! If I do nothing else …this should stand the test of time, when I leave this earth…this should still be here.

BooksoftheYear.com: The themes in your poetry range from love, to politics, to religion, and your poetry is very truthful. Does writing poetry on all topics come equally easy to you or do some flow more naturally than others?

Mikaylah Simone: It’s fair to say that some topics of my poems come more naturally than others such as poems about feelings and events I have personally experienced. Other poems that have to do with external factors and worldly issues inspire me to write as I concentrate on the subject and collective reactions of other people.

BooksoftheYear.com: The very first poem in your book is "Untitled," and it's about the war's victims. What can you tell us about his particular poem? And is it really "untitled" or does the title "Untitled" have a meaning in itself?

Mikaylah Simone: Interesting question! I have to say that I chose not to give this poem a title, because I wanted the readers to "find" their own title. The war has multiple layers of feeling connected to it at so many levels…I know readers will not have any trouble creating their own title for this piece.

The entire interview with poet Mikaylah Simone may be read at http://www.booksoftheyear.com/Interviews/MikaylahSimone.htm.

Visit Mikaylah at her web site, http://www.msimone.com .