Cop gives advice on ‘relationship spice’ in first book

First-time author Hezekan Bolton has composed what he describes as “relationship spice” to help couples find ways of keeping the romantic flame alive, while putting aside notions that it usually burns out after a few years.

Married for 14 years, Bolton claims that this spice, titled Silhouette of Emotions: The Expressions of Intimacy, is the secret to understanding and expressing emotion and is is divided into five chapters – Excitement, Plateau, Orgasm, Resolution and Nature.

In a recent Gleaner interview, Bolton, who is also a police constable assigned to Kingston Central division and is stationed at the Kingston and St Andrew Family Court on Duke Street in downtown Kingston, stated that since men in society don’t often express their emotions in writing, he sought to create a book filled with love that would inspire and educate them on how to do so.

“I think a lot of women are not pleased in their relationship because of how men are not learnt in the area of emotions and feelings. You find that what women want is for men to be in tuned with this, as it will help them and, by extension, the family in going about respecting who you are and your feelings for what it is,” the cop of 10 years said.

Bolton said that writing has helped him to express himself over the years as he not only writes for himself but projects the voice of others through highlighting their unspoken sentiments about topical or everyday issues.

Despite not doing literature in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination, the self-published author credits his introduction to writing to his history teacher, Mr Collins, at his alma mater, Norman Manley High School.

“One day we were in class and he said that we could write an article. That day, everybody gave their views and he put it together in an article and sent it to the newspaper,” he recalled.

“We eventually got the ‘Letter of the Day’ for that, and from then, I started putting things together and sending them to the Teen Herald at that time,” he added, noting that his hobby of putting pen to paper began to blossom when he was in grade eight.

Bolton started penning articles for the local newspapers as a pastime. To this day, he continues to engage in this activity and has produced countless Letters of the Day in The Gleaner.

Bolton added that as soon as he acquired a phone, he started writing love notes with a 160-character limit. He employed a range of writing techniques to express himself in these letters, but at the time, he lacked a romantic partner with whom he felt secure enough to share them. His friends would instead use his messages, sending them to girls they liked.

In addition to articles, he challenges himself by assisting friends and family members with writing speeches, eulogies, letters of complaints, apologies, and other forms of writing.

This collection of poetry, he said, came about after he yielded to the coaxing of loved ones who believed that he was wasting his talent by not publishing his work.

“I wasn’t really fascinated about poetry. What happened was, my father loved listening to Wilmot ‘Motty’ Perkins, and from listening to Perkins, I would hear a lot of topical issues about governing the country,” he said, making reference to the popular radio talk-show host who died in 2012.

He also developed a passion for reading and the fact that his parents would bring home copies of the daily newspapers helped him become a better writer.

His usage of the abbreviation C.O.W., which stands for choice of words and was taught to him by his English teacher, Miss Chung, has also advanced his work.

“She said, in your writing, chose your words and what it is that you want to convey for persons to understand what it is that you are saying,” he said.

This collection is Bolton’s first book of poetry. He is putting together another book, a compilation of his published articles, for publication next year. The book will be separated into three volumes of work, with the first volume being published in February.

He said that despite not having a particular source of inspiration, he pushes himself to write a range of poems – whether they are serious, humorous, or about love – using just one word or phrase.

“The inspiration is not about any one particular thing. I might be at work; I’m sitting in court and I see something or hear something. I might be driving home in the bus and I see something out the window, so I just take out my phone and that’s where most of my writings start ... in my phone,” he said.

His favourite piece from the collection is ‘Euphoria’, in which he weaves the names of various scents from the Bath & Body Works line into a poem.

Outside of writing, Bolton has interests in sports, including football and cricket. He also works with various organisations and community groups as a volunteer and mentor, teaching at-risk youth life skills and assisting them in navigating adolescence.

Bolton is also a Christian and views himself as one who loves to serve others.

“Some people may look at the book and wonder how is it that he is a Christian and is writing this book, [but] Christ is the author of love,” he said with reference to the book of Song of Solomon.

“Even as a police officer, I try to help people as much as I can even while on duty to show that police are not about – as they are called – Babylon. It’s not about an oppressive system; it’s to help,” he said.

Bolton recently obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the Jamaica Theological Seminary.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com