I am an award winning poet and author, and a native of Hampton, Virginia. I currently serve as Literary Coordinator for the Celebration of the Arts, First Baptist Church of Hampton, and as a judge in poetry for the Peninsula ACT-SO. My honors include a bronze medal and silver cup in poetry, numerous Editors’ Choice Awards, and selection as the “Honored Poet of 2009” by poets and authors in the City of Hampton. I have been published in many anthologies, including Ancestral Rites, a local publication, The International Who’s Who In Poetry, and The Noble House of London. My poems have been utilized in public ceremonies locally honoring Mary S. Peake, Janie Porter Barrett, and by the City of Portsmouth recognizing the late Leon Ruffin, a Portsmouth native and outstanding baseball player with the historic Negro Leagues. I also competed for and won a contract by Burn Lounge Recording Studio to record a CD of my works. My first independent literary volume, Pearls of Poetry, was published in December of 2013, via Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, while my newest volume, Soulful Gems of Poetryis available for purchase from www.amazon.com. Samples of my work may be viewed on my website, www.perpetualpoet.info. In 2014, The City of Hampton, by unanimous vote and proclamation, has permanently displayed an original poem I wrote honoring my cousin and Hampton’s only Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, the late Ruppert Leon Sargent. This piece, entitled “The Hero’s Song” can be seen in the City Council Conference Room of the Sargent Building. In addition to poetry, I write plays, songs, and short stories. By special request, I recently created a song titled “Freedom Song for the U.S. Colored Troops,” recorded by award winning vocal artists, “The Weyanoke Singers. Several other compositions have been performed and slated to be performed at my home church, First Baptist Church of Hampton.