Lessons & Libations: Urban Short Stories of Life, Hustle, and Poetic Perspective

by Clarence Barbee

Lessons & Libations is a sharp, soulful collection of short stories and poems by Clarence Barbee, steeped in honesty, humor, and heartache. From the classroom to the corner bar, these seven pieces explore the moments where people show up raw—learning, healing, grieving, laughing, and sipping through it all.

Meet Nia, a recent college graduate finding her voice after commencement. Walk the halls with a weary teacher carrying quiet battles no one sees. Sit in on office banter between two friends just trying to stay human under fluorescent lights. Even the shoes speak—Stacy Adams and Nikes square off over identity, purpose, and the paths we choose to run.

Written with language that lingers and characters that feel like someone you know (or someone you’ve been), Lessons & Libations is a toast to resilience—and a reminder that even in our toughest moments, there’s still beauty waiting at the end of the day. Maybe even a good pour.

42 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 14, 2026

About the author

Clarence Barbee has been writing and performing poetry for over a decade. He has produced 9 spoken word albums, under the pseudonyms Nabraska and Poet402. Clarence is now working on self-publishing books of essays and short stories.

In his professional life he has worked with, educated, and supported many children. Clarence believes in keeping an eye on political planes and social occurrences such as changes in world leadership, and social inequalities. These actions of men are a huge curiosity to the author; he believes in writing about them, and discussing them, so solutions can be made.

Clarence has taken these experiences and written about them extensively. He asks, “who doesn’t want to be happy,” then goes about the business of finding the answer. Please take some time to join him on this journey as they are set through words, sometimes with music, and always taken with a grain of salt.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lessons and Libations is a powerful and rich collection of short stories and poems that pull you in with the spoken words and emotions. This is enhanced by Clarence Barbee’s voice that draws you in even further. To be honest, the women’s voices that were used during the first story were a bit grating, especially after Mr. Barbee’s smooth, soothing tone just prior to them speaking. I think I would have rather had him doing high-pitched voices, pretending to be them instead.

I heard themes of strength, healing, and resilience throughout the collection, and it was beautiful. I rate Lessons and Libations 5 out of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Highly recommend!

[Dani (piggindani_reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that the author is the narrator. He has one of those rich, captivating voices that you can listen to for hours and truly brings the stories and poems to life.
I adored the attention to detail in the sense that when Nia takes to the mic, it actually sounds like she’s speaking into a microphone. It’s clever and helps add to the atmosphere. You really feel as if you are there.

There is such an eclectic mix of stories and poems. Ranging from powerful & raw to fun & lighthearted. And, because it’s the author speaking, you can hear is passion, rage, energy and spirit with every word. I loved it.

I originally gave this 4 stars but upon reflection, it has to be 5. There was a story that was a little bizarre but I appreciate it considering the fact other stories/poems made my heart ache a little.

I would say Rochelle’s seminar is my favourite. Not only did I love the rhythm of this one but it’s very thought provoking.

Highly recommend and one I will be getting via the kindle so I can read it too.

[Cait's Reading Nook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lessons & Libations (The Audiobook) is a collection of poems and short stories with themes of identity, grief, healing, joy, growth, and resilience.

I thought the collection was reflective, and I enjoyed the variety of stories and poems. In the collection, we meet people each with their own stories and experiences. I think another theme of the collection is connection and the importance of connection and community.

Nia’s story showed her journey in writing and how sharing her writing with others strengthened her voice and finding community and friendship. I found the quote “the silence gave her comfort” quite moving. She finds the connection with the audience and a place to express herself.

I’ve been reading more short stories recently in addition to poetry, which is one of my favorite genres. I enjoy hearing poetry as much as reading it on the page. We experience the moments in a poem of when to pause and to take in the text. Poetry has a power in its precision to deliver emotions and moments of reflection.

Clarence Barbee delivers an excellent narration! I also thought the sound effects of the open mic were created an immersive listening experience. It’s like we are there in the room hearing Nia read her writing.

I enjoyed all the stories and poems of the collection! I look forward to reading more of Clarence’s poems and listening to his spoken word albums.

Thank you to Clarence Barbee and Love Books Tours for the opportunity to be part of the tour! I was provided a copy of this book for free and am leaving an honest review.

[Sonja Charters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first read by this author and I thought this was the perfect introduction being a mix of just 7 short stories and poems which cover a diverse range of topics.

 

This was, however, a super quick read at under an hour in length (under 50 pages).

 

I absolutely loved that this was narrated by the author themself as I always feel that the true meaning can come across so much better, especially with the poetry.

This was a great performance and it's clear this author has done many a reading over their career - such a great voice to listen to!

 

Each of the pieces drew me in and I found it quite easy to connect with each of the different characters - which is difficult to do in such a short space of time.

The narrative of each was believable and relatable using experiences that we can easily visualise - even if we haven't been there ourselves at times.

 

I hate to choose favourites when it comes to collections like this, I did really enjoy each of the pieces as they all offered something slightly different - but the first story with Nia resonated the most as I could really feel her fear of the open mic night - I absolutely hate to put myself in the spotlight like that.

I loved the reaction of the audience in making her feel comfortable and this allowed her to really perform her piece to a greater ability.

 

This was a great first read and I'd really like to see more work from this author.

I wonder whether any of the themes or characters seen here have been expanded on or focused in bigger pieces or novels?

 

 

 

[Naturalbri (Bri Wignall) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not listened to a good audiobook in a while and I really liked the idea of this audiobook being a collection short stories and poems to really listen to deeply and build your own connections and thoughts about it each.
I will say you have to go into this with an open heart and open mind as It is tricky, but you definitely see deep into traumatic and uplifting experiences and really piece though them, see ways to be able to manage.
I really liked the variety of experiences that were present , which allowed me to listen any day, time and even on various topics to fit my mood, my experiences or just to listen to someone put out the truth about things as they felt and experienced them. It was a nice audiobook to experience.