Category Archives: Self-Love

Buddah Desmond’s New Poetry Collection, Coming Up From the Downside: Finding Joy in Our Song, is Out Now!

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The celebration continues! Happy to announce that my latest poetry collection, Coming Up From the Downside: Finding Joy in Our Song, is out now!

Coming Up From the Downside is about adversity, healing, resilience, and faith. It’s about overcoming pain, loss, depression, health issues, and heartbreak to get to real love and the joy that sustains us through it all. It’s the third and final book in what I’m calling “The Home Within” trilogy, which was preceded by 2020’s From The Inside Out: A Poetry Collection and 2023’s Everything I Miss(ed) At Home.

The vast majority of the poems in this book were written in the thick of the pandemic. One of the bleakest periods that completely changed my life, and the lives of so many others. It was a season that kept giving lesson after lesson after lesson in the midst of getting up from the downside.

Coming Up From the Downside was published by Liquid Cat Publishing. The cover was designed Black Author Brand. Extremely grateful to my publisher’s team and the Black Author Brand team for their love, support, encouragement, guidance, and great work throughout this process!

And thank you so much for all who’ve supported me along the way. Words aren’t enough to express my gratitude.

Coming Up From the Downside: Finding Joy in Our Song is available for purchase at Amazon. Get into it!

Much Love + Many Blessings! ~ Buddah Desmond

Buddah Desmond’s Poetry featured in SOUL Issue Ten

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Excited to announce that six of my poems were recently published in the literary magazine, SOUL Issue Ten. The poems featured in SOUL are entitled, “We Are Art,” “So Rich,” “Everything But…,” “Cold In The Afterglow (It Ain’t Love),” “Lingering,” and “Masters Of The Fire.” 

SOUL (Say on Universal Languages) was created by writer, poet, editor, and journalist Candis Johnson. So many dope, talented writers and creatives are featured in this issue of SOUL, so be sure to check it out.

Much gratitude and praise to Candis for creating this platform and affording us the opportunity to share our gifts with the world. 

To purchase your copy of SOUL Issue Ten, please go to: www.lulu.com/spotlight/freedomwryter21.

Buddah Desmond’s Poetry Featured in Liquid Cat Quarterly, Volume 1

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I’m happy to announce that two of my poems, “A Song From You (Forever Changed)” and “Version Control” are featured in Liquid Cat Quarterly, Volume 1. This is the first literary journal released by my publisher, Liquid Cat Books. It’s a dope collection of original poetry, art, and other inspiring pieces by some phenomenal writers and creatives. Much appreciation and praise to the Liquid Cat Books team for allowing us to share our voices in this awesome journal.

Liquid Cat Quarterly, Volume 1 is available on the Liquid Cat Books site (ebook | print) and on Amazon.

Buddah Desmond’s Latest Book, Everything I Miss(ed) At Home, Out Now!

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It’s with immense joy and pride that I announce my latest project, Everything I Miss(ed) At Home, is available for purchase! Nearly 4 years in the making, this project delves into the meaning of home. Those place(s) we call home… Those places we create… Places we find (or don’t find) within our families, friends, communities, within our intimate relationships, and most importantly, within ourselves. 

Most of the poetry in Everything I Miss(ed) At Home was written prior to the pandemic. The time leading into the pandemic was a major period of transition and transformation, I noticed, for myself and a number of my friends and family. If we only knew what was coming in 2020 and the years thereafter… It was a period ripe with trials and tribulations, yet rich with blessings, lessons, and opportunities for change and growth. “Wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now,” as Maya Angelou said.

Everything I Miss(ed) At Home was published by Liquid Cat Publishing. It’s always a pleasure to work with people that share a deep love for and commitment to poetry, along with providing opportunities and platforms for unique voices to shine. Much love and gratitude to Jakob, Olivia, and the Liquid Cat Publishing team!

And much love and gratitude to YOU for your support along the way! And if you’re so moved to check out my latest project, it’s available for purchase at Liquid Cat Books and on Amazon. Let’s take it to #1! 

“For indie authors / poets, your support goes A LONG WAY!!!! Buy our books. Read our books. Review our books. Talk about our books. Share our books. Gift our books. Repeat these steps as often as possible!” ~ @buddahdesmond.

Buddah Desmond’s Poem, Bankruptcy (A Conceit), Featured on Osamasetorbest.com

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Delighted to announce one of my latest poems, Bankruptcy (A Conceit), has been published on Osamasetorbest.com. Bankruptcy (A Conceit) is a poem about pride and having larger-than-life belief in oneself… Knowing and believing that you are so much more than what external forces tend to acknowledge (or fail to acknowledge). Much gratitude for this platform and the opportunity to share this poem with the world. 

~ Buddah Desmond 

New Project – shifting from the inside out: love poems – Out Today!

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Cover of shifting from the inside out: love poems by Buddah Desmond

I’m happy to announce the release of my latest project, shifting from the inside out: love poems today. This collection contains some of my favorite love poems from my last two projects, Exotic Shifter and From The Inside Out: A Poetry Collection, along with some new poems. The title is a play on the titles of the aforementioned projects, and serves to illustrate the notion that love is an inside job. It manifests from the inside out. And when we are loved, love ourselves, and love others, it changes us. 

With it being Black History Month, Love Month, and my birthday month, I thought to myself—why not put out a special project and offer it for free?

To check out my latest project, go to: https://bit.ly/BDez-shifting-from-the-inside-out

Feel free to share and let me know your thoughts.

Happy BHM! Happy V-Day! 

Much love and many blessings!

~ Buddah Desmond 

New Book, From The Inside: A Poetry Collection, Out Now!

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I’m happy to announce my new book, From The Inside Out: A Poetry Collection, is out now! After sitting on this project for a few years, I finally decided to get over myself and hit the button.

About The Book

From The Inside Out: A Poetry Collection examines the power of love and its impact on our lives. When combined with action, commitment, faith, hope, persistence, and pride, love can transform our relationships, our communities, our world, and each of us. We can find “Glory” when we “lose [ourselves] in the beauty and wonder of life and love.”

As these poems illustrate, this journey may require a little work, a little discovery, and some growing pains…. For love is an inside job. And we love from the inside out.

From The Inside Out is available for purchase at Amazon. Tell a friend, then another friend, and then another friend.

Much gratitude for your support. Peace, Love, and Many Blessings!

Buddah Desmond – Feature Friday Poet on No Line Left Behind

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Elated to report that I was recently the Feature Friday poet on TehilaYah Ysrayl’s No Line Left Behind site. The feature includes an interview, and one of my latest poem’s entitled, “Home.” A snippet of the poem is below:

Much gratitude to TehilaYah for featuring me, and for providing a platform to highlight and support poets near and far. To learn more about TehilaYah, go to No Line Left Behind or check her out on IG.

Photos / graphics courtesy of TehilaYah Ysrayl. 

Reflections (Slaying The Monster)

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I looked in the mirror
And what did I see
A monster staring back at me
From galaxies unknown
Dark, brooding
So alluring yet so scary
Projecting the happy fantasy
When really singing the lost soul blues
Self-sabotages almost consistently
Holds feelings so deep that when expressed
It’s potency trumps the fire expelled
by an entire Weyr
Putting on, showing out
Acting up, always on the raucous route
Wouldn’t stop until he’d achieved total
domination, control, and power over you
And he won
Or did he? 

When looking in the mirror
What did you see?
A figure you almost couldn’t believe
Because he looked just like you
In fact, it was you
So familiar yet so unrecognizable
How could you manage to let it all go?
No more, you say
NO MORE
His time of recklessness, dysfunction,
and drama are done
For you’re taking it back, all the way back to one
The lost, but not forgotten one
The O.G.
YOU
Time to slay the shit out of this
muthafucking monster
He’s gone on for far too long
It’s the only way to right this wrong
Say goodnight! 

From now on, when I look in the mirror
I’m going to see me
The real me
Not lost, not blue
But genuine, authentic, and true
Loved from the inside out
On that realness route
Reclaimed
And reframed
Like Fantasia, I’m finally back to me.EndFragment 

~ Buddah Desmond, From The Inside Out: A Poetry Collection (2020)

Prevail: Happy 7th Anniversary!

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I cannot believe it’s been 7 years since the release of my first project, Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics. It’s arrival marked one of the brightest and darkest periods of my life.

Two weeks prior to its release, I found myself jobless. A total WTF moment that sent me reeling… Spiraling down. I was singing a tune that was akin to the jazz standard “Good Morning Heartache,” except in this case it was “Good Morning / Good Afternoon / Good Night Depression, Anxiety, Shame, Low Self-Esteem, and Lack of Confidence.” It took awhile to grow through it. While I didn’t realize it immediately, it proved to be a blessing in disguise.

This reality check gave me the chance to do things I always wanted to do. Publish my work. Write, write, and write some more. Perform. Connect and work with other artists, creatives, and organizations committed to the arts and social justice. Complete my MBA. I did what I had to do. About a year or so later, the landscape had changed. My outlook was much brighter.

Life is a trip. At times, you may feel ill equipped for the journey. You may even hate certain portions of the journey. But it’s necessary. It lays the foundation for what’s too come. As I say, “No matter what happens in life, we must PREVAIL!“ Much love and gratitude to all who’ve been there with me and continue to support me throughout this journey. You are true blessings!

Prevail is available at Amazon (Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle) and Barnes & Noble.