Poems from Shernise Richardson

Born and raised in Baltimore, MD​, Poet Renae, also known as Shernise Richardson, started writing poetry at the age of 8 years old. As a child growing up in a single parent home and being a victim of mental bullying, she used writing as a way to vent her feelings and to escape to a place of happiness, acceptance and understanding. She wrote to understand why her father was not permanent in her life, why she was picked on in school because of her image and why she couldn’t be accepted the way she was made. After writing for a couple of years she found that her words had an effect on those whom she entrusted to read them. She was told that one day her words would inspire others. It wasn't until she performed her poem, "Masterpieces" for her high school graduating class, that she realized that doing poetry was her true gift. From then on she started performing her poetry for church events and family gatherings. Between the years of 2007 and 2008 she started to perform at open mics within the Baltimore, MD area, and being featured at certain events. During her poetic journey in those years she realized that writing and performing her poetry was her purpose. Her poetry was therapy that led her to a path of forgiveness and understanding of her past. She realized her purpose was to inspire others in the world by letting them know that no matter the tribulations they could live through their storms. In 2008 she released her first EP entitled, "My Reflection." The CD is based off of her signature piece, "My Reflection," which focuses on the struggle with worldly perception and focus on trendy physical appearance and as a result, individuals being unhappy with individual features. She encourages everyone to love themselves based off of their love for their own reflection and not the world’s preference. Her hope is that her words will inspire others to overcome and believe that they are beautiful just the way they were designed. In April 2015 she will be releasing her second poetry album entitled, “I.M.: Inspiring Minds.” It lyrically illustrates her poetic journey of discovering her purpose. Poet Renae hopes that by others taking this journey with her that they will be able to release pain, discover their purpose, or just to realize that there is hope and light in the midst of every journey.