PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Cancer is an ugly disease…not only for the life it takes

But for all the sorrow and sadness…left floating in its wake….

Although I did not know her personally I’ve kept abreast of cases she has tried

which is why I was saddened yesterday when I heard that she had died.

But what finally caused my tears to flow…what opened my floodgate

was, amidst the many tributes to her, were the messages of hate.

The more I read the sadder I felt until soon I was feeling numb

as my heart filled up with sorrow at the country we’ve become.

Cancer comes in many forms causing families sadness, sorrow and strife

progressing slowly through the body until it finally takes a life.

Hate is a form of cancer…I wish people would understand

How it’s metastasizing quickly…as it spreads across the land.

Two forms of cancer make me sad today…

The first that took this woman I am thinking of…

and the second that is slowly killing

this country that I love.

There was a time when we were children

when we loved everyone…indiscriminately…

when we were pouring the foundation 

of who we, one day, hoped to be.

Mixed into the foundation

of who we hoped to be

were the beginnings of a dream

of the world we hoped to see.

When our foundation was completed…when it dried

there we hoped to find 

a house built on acceptance

on being loving, compassionate and kind.

But when we looked around us

at the diversity of our world…and of our nation

we found every house was not built 

upon the same foundation.

And we came to understand and appreciate

what many before us have known:

How every house, no matter the foundation

has a beauty all its own.

And so our dream amidst such diverse foundations 

is that everyone will come to find

a world that is accepting

that is loving, compassionate and kind.

Which is why, as adults, we are so sad today…

when we see so much hate

when we kill each other so indiscriminately…

and we wonder when did our world turned into

the world we never dreamed that it would be.

When searching for the key to happiness 

It’s difficult to know exactly what to do

Sometimes I wonder if we should be looking

into our sadness too…

We should look for someone who knows our sadness

who can see the tear before it reaches our eye

for someone who accepts our sadness

who knows it’s okay to cry.

For someone who understand us

who can read our changing mood…or tone

who knows when we want to be held

and when we want to be left alone.

For someone who understands sadness has its own schedule

who knows what is at stake

someone who will sit beside us…and hold our hand

no matter how long we take.

For someone who knows when it comes to sadness

this lesson they have learned:

It is only through patience and love and understanding

that happiness will return.

And if you’re lucky you will find your happiness…

You’ll find that someone who

all the while you were looking for them

they were looking for you.

These poems I write I write for me…I like to take the time

to put my feelings down on paper and to make my stories rhyme…

It’s kind of like a daily diary…it’s something I love do do

and when I’m finished I like to share the words I write…with you.

What I write are my feelings, my views…I write about the world I see

and I don’t desire nor do I expect every one to agree with me…

And when you don’t agree I’m usually fine with that…

but yesterday I have to note

I was a little saddened by one response…by what one person wrote.

I posted a poem about how George Floyd will never get the chance to teach his daughter how to fly…

lamenting how he cried out…

how it was a tragic and senseless way to die.

That same day I received this note…which saddened me I must admit

The note said, ‘He’s not the first and only person to die!

and ended with, ‘Get over it!”

Get over it…get over it…these words reverberate inside my head

Get over it…get over it…is what whoever wrote this said.

Get over how a person…any person had to die this way

Get over how another person’s life was so callously taken away.

Get over the tragedy the inequity….the inhumanity?

I confess it is always going to be a challenge getting over it…for me…

So the question I must ask the person who said, ‘Get Over it’

be you a woman…or a man

Is the problem how difficult it is for me to get over it…

or how easily you can?

'He’s not the first and only person to die! Get over it.’

When our heart is filled with sorrow we find it hard to comprehend

why this happened in our life…why to our family or friends?

Yet it’s preposterous to think in a world where every living thing must die

that sorrow will overlook us...will somehow pass us by.

Just as joy has the capacity to surprise….sorrow has the capacity to shock.

The pendulum of life swings back and forth...at any hour of the clock.

In those inevitable moments when sorrow descends upon our land

It helps for me to envision it…like a castle in the sand.

At the onset a castle built of sadness stands tall...seizing our full attention.

Our life has slowed and is now crowded with misery, fear and tension.

Our face which one time was awash in smile is now in constant frown

but soon our tears, like the ocean’s waves, begin to tear that castle down.

It happens ever so slowly leaving us to wonder if we can go on

until one day we awake to find that castle is now gone.

We find we can be happy again, and though we’ll never be the same

our sorrow has dissolved back into the sands from which it came.

Certainly sorrow has done her damage, causing torment, causing pain

and in her wake upon our heart a lasting scar remains.

But that scar not only reminds us of the sorrow we’ve been through

It also shows, no matter what the pain, that we can heal too.

It shows we can survive...it shows we can withstand

It shows even our deepest sorrow will eventually dissolve…

like a castle in the sand.

When our heart is filled with sorrow and all we see is night

We begin to wonder…to question…if we’ll ever see the light.

If this dark cloud of sadness that surrounds us…will ever fade away.

If there will ever be a time we once again we’ll gaze upon the day.

Then somewhere in our darkness we behold a wondrous sight

as the light of one friend..one star…begins to shimmer in the night.

Before we know it another friend…another star has gleamed

and we realize, though it’s still dark, it’s not as dark as it first seemed.

Soon we notice our night is filled with stars

and we appreciate what the light of friendship can do

because without us ever noticing…

our star is shining too.

And though we understand there will forever be a darkness

accompanying what we say 

and what we do…

we also know there is enough light remaining

that will help to see us through…

At first the sadness’s overwhelmed her…

It was with her everywhere she went

She couldn’t remove it’s ringing from her years

It’s taste

it’s feel

it’s scent

She knew if she was ever going to move on…

eventually she’d have to find

a way to deal with her sorrow…

a place for her sadness to be confined

She discovered a vacant room within her heart…

it magically opened one day

and slowly little by little she began

to pack her sorrow away.

She knows the sadness will revisit 

but no longer does she fear

the moments it returns…

the moments it appears…

For those times when it seeps back out…

those feeling of sadness and doom

she will visit with them a while 

then store them back inside this room.

Now she able to smile as she closes the door…

no longer is she mad…

for she remembers what made her so happy to begin with…

that now makes her so sad.

If you’re lucky enough to fall in love…to have love enter your life…

from your parents, your friends your relatives, your partner or your wife…

Once you have been blessed …and that seed of love is planted

you cherish every moment……you take not a thing for granted.

For over the years there is a truth…a lesson about love that you’ve learned:

how it feels wonderful it when you give it…and even more wonderful when it’s returned..

And you truly believe that this feeling will forever be extending

never giving a thought that your love story has an ending.

You get so involved in love

in its mystery, its excitement and it’s laughter

that you think the only way your fairy tale will end

is happily ever after.

But when someone you love stops loving you

when they say they’ve had enough

or when a loved one dies…or for whatever the reason

the road turns from smooth…to rough

you find yourself crying and moaning

and you hope 

and you wish 

and you pray…

because in your heart you know that fairy tales

aren’t supposed to end this way.

Then somehow with the help of your friends,

your siblings, your father and your mother

you discover the end of one fairy tale 

can be the beginning of another.

So you jump on your white horse

and with your injured soul

and your heart in need of mending

you turn to the next page of your Fairy Tale…

in search of your happy ending.

So many questions in this world we cannot answer…

No one can tell us why…

Why do tragedies happen everyday?

Why do children have to die? 

This is the story of one child…

I wish I was singing a happier tune

but this child’s story is over…it ended much too soon.

She did not enter this world peacefully…although her birth was a joyous day

there were complications from the beginning…and more obstacles along the way.

Her story ended a few days ago…at least now she’s out of harm…

She has a place in heaven…she’s in the angel’s arms.

Her parents handled each setback with dignity…with courage…and with grace….

as they tried to cope with the kind of heartache no family should face.

There were trips to hospitals and surgeries…so much going on inside her

and her parents shared her pain and suffering as they stood stoically beside her.

It is a testament to their love…that as they suffered through the haze…

in the midst of all their sorrow…they found joy in other ways

For they loved their little daughter…that was plain for all to see

and they did the best they could to give her life some harmony.

I hope as the years go by…when they stop 

when they pause a while…

they will remember more of the joy than the suffering…

and when they think of her…

they’ll smile.

Perhaps one day their questions will be answered…

when they join their daughter…out of harm

when they hold her again heaven…

when they’re together…

in the angel’s’ arms.