ED GORDON, host: Time now for our Poet's Moment.</s>Ms. FREDA DENIS-COOPER (Poet): My name is Freda Denis-Cooper, and this      is my poem, "Dream of Dominica."</s>Ms. FREDA DENIS-COOPER (Poet): `Having never basked on her warm mocha shores or swam in her crystal      blue-green waters, having never breathed her dew-fresh morning air or      bathed in her cool rivers, having never walked her winding roads or      witnessed her breathtaking landscapes, having never heard her Savannah      songs of birds and children in school yards, having never explored her      mountain trails or smelled her intoxicating floral fragrance, having      never tasted her candy-sweet mangoes or feasted on her delightful      recipes, having never dwelled among her colorful culture or felt the      warmth of her sunlight, having never experienced her beauties and the      vastness of her lush lands.  You may wonder how I've come to know      Dominica.  Of her many stories, she whispers me some.  And of her many      suns, she's given me one.  And in spite of my having never seen her smile      or been held in her bosom, she knows me well and sends her sun to give me      kisses, filled with all that she is.  From afar, she beckons me,      daughter, and when I close my eyes tight, I can run to her, mother      Dominica.'</s>Ms. FREDA DENIS-COOPER (Poet): My poem "Dream of Dominica" is dedicated to my husband, Bobby, and to his      birthplace, this small unspoiled Caribbean island, Dominica.  I still      have yet to visit there, but the beauty of poetry is that it can take us      to places we may never go and show us things we may never see.</s>ED GORDON, host: Freda Denis-Cooper lives in Durham, North Carolina.  Her      collection of poems is titled "Stones Unturned:  The Soul Poetic."
Freda Denis-Cooper reads her poem "Dream of Dominica." Her collection of poems is titled Stones Unturned: The Soul Poetic.