Black Pearls Before Swine is poet, L.A. Beckwith's first offering to the literary realm. This cosmopolitan mix of themes shifts from African-American history to politics to triumph to love and even more. It is a culmination of her personal experiences as a black woman in a modern world with a retrospective imagination. Beckwith takes us on a poetic journey to the past in poems such as, "Crown of Glory" where she vividly describes the eventful life of an elderly woman who has actively lived through the Great Migration to the Civil Rights era. Then, in the autobiographical, "Out of Sight" she explores the harsh realities of the tainted entertainment business. Beckwith has the brilliant ability to paint verbal masterpieces as she eloquently illustrates in "Paradise." The book emphasizes her strength to write poetry that is imaginative, moving, provocative and even humorous at times. Black Pearls Before Swine is a literary gem that transforms despair into hope, adversity into victory and ignorance into appreciation.
