A Broken Crayon Still Colors

You're about to enter the mind of Albert Anthony del Toral Franco (1983-20XX), a Cuban-American poet who grew up in South Florida, through 67 poems he penned from December 1996 through January 2025.

Though all these poems were written at very different intervals in his life, from the ages of 13 to 41, the Miami native is now presenting them jointly as one collection, and he has included a few of the award-winning poems from every decade of his professional career: "Christmas All Year 'Round" and "Joint Motif" from his teen years; "A Reading from the Book of Victor," "United We Stand" and "Magic Carpet" from his twenties; "Blessed to Be (Amer-I-Can!)" and "All the Money in the World" from his thirties; and "Changing Tides (Varadero to South Beach)" from his early forties.

Presented in no discernible order, these poems touch on everything from his cultural roots and the people and events that have left an indelible mark on him, to his childhood nostalgia, personal faith, and ever-changing views on American politics. Every type of poem you can think of is included within this book - serious, silly, reflective, inspirational, tragic, memorial, religious, social, political, parodic, symbolic, and everything else in between.

He hopes that everyone will appreciate the introspections he has chosen to share while going through his crazy life's journey and prays that you will all find something to relate to within these pages.