The African Love Poems and Proverbs is a varied collection of poems and proverbs by husband and wife Wolf and Charlotte Leslau, along side Solomon M. Skolnick the author of “Amazing Grace:The Beloved song. The book also has beautiful captivating decorations by Jeff Hill.

African Love Poems and Proverbs are two books first published in 1962 separately and later combined and published as one book by Peter Pauper Press. The poems in this book speak of situational occurrences that people go through when they are in love and the different experiences that go hand in hand with love. There are poems about love, loneliness, the longing for love, celebrating love, the fear of love, and the joy of love.

It is said that proverbs are the daughters of experience. This book is a collection of such daughters - valuable, humorous, and wise - from a diverse group of lands and tribes. One such proverb included in this lovely gift book teaches ‘it is the wife who knows her husband, thunder is not yet rain, and two eyes see better than one.’

This book show cases the integral part of the African cultural poetry which showcases people’s daily experiences. It is a literature of participation, used for religious rites, in times of joy and sorrow, a true reflection of the times and lives of African people. Here is one of the poems taken from the book:

The moon always follows the sun

Calm down little brother
Time heals all wounds
No matter how much one is weeping
The moon always follows the sun.
Eat your banana’s and fresh leaves,
And don’t cry anymore,
Because forever and ever
The moon will follow the sun.