Two Philadelphia natives meet at Salem College in Winston Salem. Nathan Ross Freeman is Aileen Muhammad's poetry and screenwriting professor. She believes he is her blood brother by some accidental occurrence. He says maybe in another life. She begins to write stories. He shares his and here they are. The threads that weave the fabric of these stories, the entry into the avenue of the muse and the poetic conjures are startling and satisfying.

Two Philadelphia natives meet at Salem College in Winston Salem. Nathan Ross Freeman is Aileen Muhammad's poetry and screenwriting professor. She believes he is her blood brother by some accidental occurrence. He says maybe in another life. She begins to write stories. He shares his and here they are. The threads that weave the fabric of these stories, the entry into the avenue of the muse and the poetic conjures are startling and satisfying.

In the early 1930s, young Ace Smart is eight years old when his father, a physician, is found hung in his office, and his mother, a writer in the Harlem Renaissnce, dies soon after. He grows up bitterly, marries, and raises two daughters. This is the story of the spiritual journey of one of his daughters. Evidence of the past and feelings of the famiy emerge as Mia is hospitlized in a mental hospital. Ace's secret affair with Vanav weaves suspense when Ace discovers that Vanav was his wife's best friend in childhood. Vanav has only known freedom and has kept the knowledge and science of her people from the island of Sokotra in the Indian Ocean. She is close to Mia and shared her knowledge with Mia's mother. Ace later finds that his father and grandparents were affiliated with people from that island who settled in Steelton, Pennsylvania, and worked with the underground railroad. Quakers, Muslims, and Jews were involved in the movement. Family ideas about the African American experience are an issue as is the remedy for Mia. The family has ties with the struggle for honor and with an ancient healing that comes from knowledge of the blood or red resin from the dragon tree of Sokotra. Unexpected events occur when Ace finally gets rid of his hostility and Mia fights for her mental and emotional freedom. This story is woven with poetry, in an out of time as its powerful messages leave an important imprint on the heart.

In the early 1930s, young Ace Smart is eight years old when his father, a physician, is found hung in his office, and his mother, a writer in the Harlem Renaissnce, dies soon after. He grows up bitterly, marries, and raises two daughters. This is the story of the spiritual journey of one of his daughters. Evidence of the past and feelings of the famiy emerge as Mia is hospitlized in a mental hospital. Ace's secret affair with Vanav weaves suspense when Ace discovers that Vanav was his wife's best friend in childhood. Vanav has only known freedom and has kept the knowledge and science of her people from the island of Sokotra in the Indian Ocean. She is close to Mia and shared her knowledge with Mia's mother. Ace later finds that his father and grandparents were affiliated with people from that island who settled in Steelton, Pennsylvania, and worked with the underground railroad. Quakers, Muslims, and Jews were involved in the movement. Family ideas about the African American experience are an issue as is the remedy for Mia. The family has ties with the struggle for honor and with an ancient healing that comes from knowledge of the blood or red resin from the dragon tree of Sokotra. Unexpected events occur when Ace finally gets rid of his hostility and Mia fights for her mental and emotional freedom. This story is woven with poetry, in an out of time as its powerful messages leave an important imprint on the heart.

"If you have the privilege, you already have the right to peruse Aileen Muhammad's collection of work from 2009 to present. I have. You had been whisked away at the very first word of every piece she has written. Aileen will unleash your spirit and take you somewhere. And everyone of her riveting, healing, love pods, take you by the hand, walks you across the street to Karma, then, hurl you through non-stop imagery, imaginings, soul deep steep vision parables that make it exciting to you 'see' for your Self what you have read. Sustained takes every line of verse and weaves them seamlessly with Bai's (Carl Karni-Bain)consuming paintings that tour Persona, the soul of persona. Sustained places every verse and image on the tip of your tongue. Yes, Sustained speaks from you, through you, to where you must go. Aileen's, Sustained, incurs nature, stretches longing to the nth degree. Both holy and sacred, Aileen defines the microcosmic juncture of the two, a formula for transcendence. Sustained traverses every revered poetic structure with a very delightful page of Haiku Feathers that manipulates the sparkle in your eye. But, oh my, the signature structural fierceness of Sustained Aileen Muhammad is a fearless language soloist. Sustained is a School of Thought entry to the annals." Nathan Ross Freeman