After freeing a tumultuous marriage, O'Neal released a cathartic book of poetry entitled: "The Sparrow's Plight: Woes of a 21st Century Black Poet" (2014). In the book, the author speaks of her run-ins with life being a Black, liberated woman in a White America, racial injustice, and the tragedies unfolding around the world. In the foreword by author and literary critic, Rudolph Lewis, he pointed out: "Neither Gil Scott-Heron nor Richard Wright could have written as poetically with such depth and beauty as Terry a O’Neal does with regard to two recent issues, namely, the tragedies of Fukishima and African child soldiers."