Poetry often serves as a way for people to voice the emotions that they might otherwise keep inside--to come to terms with unexpressed feelings and bring them out into the open.

In The Color of My Tears, author Deborah Owens presents a collection of verse that does that and more. These poems can transport you to another time and place--fifteenth-century England, the Harlem Renaissance, or the sixties and seventies. Using a romantic imagination, Owens explores experiences and memories, both good and bad, happy and sad, reveling in the ups and downs of love and life. She builds a collage of emotion in her verses, providing a unique poetic journey.

Bitter Pain of Laughter

If the truth be told, you had no love for me.

I cried;

you laughed.

At my pain, you laughed.

And though I hurt,

you turned your face.

I could not help but feel the volume of your laughter,

for it pierced my soul.

I screamed in agony

while you laughed.

It was as if my pain meant nothing to you.

All that I asked of you

was that you would not torment me so,

but that just made you laugh even more.