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.