Most contemporary books of poems are concentrated around particular themes which the authors explore from a variety of view points. ‘Windows Of My Mind Is Different.’ It is different in that it speaks to no one theme, but is a selection of poems by the author after having written over one hundred titles. The aim behind the volume is to showcase the author’s writing style which he has called “conventionally unconventional.” In doing so he has ranged from the divine to the debased. For example, the poem “My Vision” is about the origin of man and the planet and their destinations, while “The Lies We Live” underscores the vanity of human beings. Close to 25% of the poems can be said to have a religious thread running through them, but even so they are treated unconventionally. “The Way,” “The Mountain Top,” and “Homeward Bound,” should make interesting reading in this regard. Human frailty is another topic to fall under the pen of Rowley, as typified by “Dishonour’s Folly” and “Lovers’s Lament.” The author wrote most of his poems when he lived in New York, so it should surprise no one that his probing mind would have surveyed the American landscape. “Might and Birthright” and “Afro-America and The N-Word” are two of his offerings from the survey. “Might and Birthright” addresses the Native American condition, while “Afro-America” is about Afro-Americans (mainly in the entertainment industry) and their love affair with the ‘N’ word. Rowley believes that everyone who opens a copy of “Windows of My Mind” will find at least a couple of poems that will resonate with his/her inner feeling on the subject matters, thus validating one of the aims of the book and his selections.
