Walker's Everyday Life Poetry And Book No. 9.
Chicago, IL: N.P., 1943. 8¼” x 5½”. Stapled wrappers. Pp. 16. Good: wrappers moderately soiled with a three-inch neat excision from front, affecting first word of cover title; penciled notation to top of one page; lightly toned and spotted with a few small stains.
This is a rare book of poetry by an African American author, William Walker.
Researching the author proved nearly impossible, as two notable African Americans shared his name: a Chicago artist known for his street murals and the actor who played Reverend Sykes in the film classic To Kill a Mockingbird.
This book contains a frontis photographic portrait of a dapperly dressed “poet & author” holding a cigarillo and a mild look of disdain. Twelve poems, rather long and complex, touch on subjects of love, marriage, religion and Walker's ideas of decent living. He reminisced on past romance in “When You and I Were Young,” reasoned that “It's Not Your Enemy, It's Your Friend” one should keep an eye on, and opined that “You'll Find No Big Shots There” in heaven. He also bemoaned the high cost of groceries and food rationing: “Lord prepare me a seat, somewhere in glory, when they ration out the air.” One poem revealed a heartbroken man begging his lover to return and another decried “A man that will slap a woman, curse her and knock her down / He's less than a man, he's nothing but a country clown.” In “Lord Let Me Live” Walker begged to “live a life so perfect, the World will miss me when I die” and questioned what his readers' “record” would be when they “face the throne of God.” He proffered, “Friend, may I give you this advice, you may weep or either moan / But when you are finding fault of others, don't forget those of your own.”
OCLC revealed three books of poetry by the author; this No. 9, with only one holding, as well as a No. 2 and a No. 8, similarly scarce. Good. Item #8043
Price: $950.00