POETRY SAVED MY LIFE

By Brenda’s Child

 

All was lost and I wanted to die,

instead I picked up a pen

and begin to write,

but I realized my thoughts

formed in lines,

some of them even rhymed.

Then I knew…Poetry saved my life.

 

It bought me to another place,

my reality was a prison,

and poetry became my escape.

Angry inside, hurt,

wanting to yell,

but afraid to be heard,

Instead of speaking,

I wrote down those words.

The paper and pen

became my best friends,

I was smitten by metaphors,

and had a crush on personification.

You don’t understand,

Poetry saved my life!

 

In my world,

there was constant change,

but the power that rhythmic words

have over me,

has remained the same.

When I was sad, filled with self-pity,

when I was trying to fit in,

and struggled with my identity,

when I fell in love for the first time,

and I plummeted out,

through broken friendships,

death, and self-doubt,

poetry helped me deal,

poetry forced me to feel,

poetry helped me to heal.

 

Today, I am ME,

because that day I decided to write,

I am here because …

Poetry saved my life!

DURING SYDNEY OLYMPICS...
By Juanita Torrence-Thompson

Wandering through David Jones,
the Harrods of Australia:
Giant lilies, forsythias,
red nasturtiums in beige pots,
punctuated with green palms,
float celestially
from a 30-foot ceiling.
A barrage of blazing tourist flashbulbs
jolt me into reality.

I lift an engraved 3-D lid of
a garish green music box with
Crocodile Dundee wrestling a croc while
a chorus rings out “Waltzing Matilda.”
Inside the box, an Aborigine man lights a fire
with sticks and dung
near the sacred Uluru. I smile
and slip away, Aussie coins
still jangling in my pockets.

(©2003, 2009 by Juanita Torrence-Thompson)

 THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

By Crystal Senter Brown

 

You don’t know me

but I already love you,

and I am ready to help you

to get all the things that are due to you.

 

And I know sometimes life seems too hard

like your journey is long and your path is dark,

but I’m here to tell you that you’ve got me!

I’m ready to help you be all that you can be!

 

Because this is OUR

our community!

Every brick and stone

every plant and tree

every winding road

every child, every school

from State Street to Wilbraham Avenue.

 

And don’t u remember when Springfield seemed new?

When everything shined, there were lots of things to do?

And everyone looked out for everyone else’s kids

And if you weren’t there to correct your child, then someone else in your village did?

The streets were clean, the neighborhoods were safe

and we didn’t have to worry about going out at night?

Well we are on our way back, Springfield can’t you see?

It’s time for us to shine God’s light!

 

And God’s light? It’s bigger than you and me

and it shines on absolutely everything!

And it’s here for you and you and me

and it’s waiting for us to take the lead.

 

And it’s not going to be easy, my beautiful friends

how successful we are, will completely depend,

on how devoted we are to reclaiming our own

whether they’re infants or toddlers, teenagers or even grown.

 

This little light of mine,

I’m gonna let it shine!

I’m gonna let it spread far and wide!

I’m gonna let it touch every life I see,

I know if I’m to make a difference

I have to let them see the God in me.

 

This little light of mine,

I’m gonna let it shine!

I’m gonna show our youth that it’s cool

To be respectful, to go to school

That life is not about the bling,

It’s about being a good person, it’s about doing the right thing.

 

And if you’re with me, raise your hand!

It’s time for us to take a stand!

Let’s reclaim our streets and our community

I’m ready! Who else is with me?

 

© 2010 Crystal Senter Brown