About the Book

Derrick Walker Naked

Starting this book was very trying for me. It took sometime in deciding to publish a book of poetry. Knowing that these types of works don't tend to sell well I felt that it was important for me to at least write about real things, circumstances and situations. In my mind what's more real than relationships?

We go through life with them in some way. Whether it's with a parent, a sibling, a friend, a job, etc we are connected to something and this is the common thread that joins us to one another. There's nothing new under the sun, I believe that and whatever is going on now, went on in the past. So let's embrace life and live!

The more that we realize we are connected the better we will be at closing the gaps in our civilization. We are better together than we are apart though we must understand our differences in order that we understand how to really be connected. The Other Side of Love touches on many aspects of relationship. I'm not saying that it will help America be great again or that we will all come together and live the 60's all over again but it is a real account of how I see relationship and in some cases how I responded to it.

The first piece in the book may not be for everyone but it will speak to many. To be honest I was quite nervous putting it in the book because it speaks of love in a way that is very familiar to most but uncomfortable to almost all. It all started with a thought of a little known cartoon called Conjunction Junction. The familiar theme that runs through will jog your memory if you're old enough so you'll have to take a peek to really understand it.

What I want you to understand is that this was a hard write for me but it was needed because it allowed me to be completely naked about somethings. Not everyone will like the book and that's okay, some will like it more than others and some will love it. I had to be okay with myself and with what I was doing in order to be at ease with this project. Those who know me know that I am not known for profanity but how can I write about relationship and leave it out? It's certainly possible but why skirt around the fence when I can walk straight through the door. So I didn't hide much!

I wanted to be real but also to be honest and say what I wanted to say regardless of how it would be perceived. That's what open dialog is for after all, to discuss our differences and see how we can either move forward, past our issues or how we can come together.

With that said, I want to give a shout out to Jadakiss for delivering a line that would transform how I felt about my work and this project as a whole. In his Letter to B.I.G., I say this with quotes, "I got my own plan, handle mine like a grown man, long as I know I'm nice, fuck it I'll be my own fan". I must have replayed this line 100 times because it spoke to me and gave me courage to be open and naked about myself. Most already know that I grew up in the church so shedding many of my life's do's and don'ts was difficult but it was needed because how can I write about relationships and love and skirt around the fence hiding the true essence of the topic.

With that said if you have reservations then start at page 3 of the book then circle back to page 1 half way in. By this point you'll have a better appreciation for the use of colorful dialog and may be able to take hold of a few discretionary thoughts that held you back.

Relationships are hard but no one said they would be easy so please indulge me as I tell you my story in my own words...

By the way, the image used in this post is the one that I used in the piece called, "Naked".