Poetry. African American Studies. Melba Joyce Boyd's latest poetry offering is an insightful examination of her relationships with family, friends, and collegues. She writes of the complexities, joys and sadnesses of lives shared, and the influences of daily living on them. As Jayne Cortez notes, "Life opposed to death, death opposed to life in New Orleans, in Detroit, in DEATH DANCE OF A BUTTERFLY. Melba Joyce Boyd's most important volume of poetry is filled with interactions, eulogies, and 'streets beneath water stains.' It is a collection flashing with poetic development."