Poetry

[Chris]

Very beautiful, Lori.
It reminds me of a friend of mine. He returned from Afghanistan two weeks ago after having been there for five months. Denmark used to participate in Peace-keeping missions but since our Prime-Minister happens to think that all Bush does is just swell ( ) we now have troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
My friend has been in Cyprus, Bosnia and Kosovo and maybe Croatia too, I'm not sure, on Peace-keeping missions, but now he says, he doesn't want to go anymore.
He has two children, ages 4 and 6 years and leaving them and his wife behind was very hard on him. At the same time being in Afghanistan was a lot harder than the places he has been before so as much as he loves his job, I think he is going to leave the Army and get a civilian job in order to avoid being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan again.

Karma to you, Lori, for this very beautiful poem

Take care and keep smiling
- Chris

[housemouse]

To lighten the mood a bit, here is a poem by my tenth grade English teacher Mr. O'Brien:

Roses are red
Violets are purple
You're as sweet
As maple syrple.

[Deleted]

chris said:

Very beautiful, Lori.
It reminds me of a friend of mine. He returned from Afghanistan two weeks ago after having been there for five months. Denmark used to participate in Peace-keeping missions but since our Prime-Minister happens to think that all Bush does is just swell ( ) we now have troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
My friend has been in Cyprus, Bosnia and Kosovo and maybe Croatia too, I'm not sure, on Peace-keeping missions, but now he says, he doesn't want to go anymore.
He has two children, ages 4 and 6 years and leaving them and his wife behind was very hard on him. At the same time being in Afghanistan was a lot harder than the places he has been before so as much as he loves his job, I think he is going to leave the Army and get a civilian job in order to avoid being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan again.

Karma to you, Lori, for this very beautiful poem

Take care and keep smiling
- Chris

And karma to YOU Chris for sharing your story about your friend - leaving home for this nonsensical war is the worst ever! And also for your angry face after Bush - YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!! (What an embarrassment to our Nation). I, too, have a friend (and he is also my former employer) who is a captain in the Navy and had to leave his family behind more than once. Indeed, Lori's beautiful poem touched the hearts of many on this board and (in my mind) honors the brave men and women from all over that give of themselves freely for the sake of freedom (tho' I will still scream from the mountaintops BRING THEM HOME!). Well done, LL!

[Deleted]

I got this in an e-mail, so I thought I would share it here:

MAYA ANGELOU'S BEST POEM EVER

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
enough money within her control
to move out and rent a place of her own even
if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her
dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone
else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
HOW TO QUIT A JOB, BREAK UP WITH A LOVER, AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't
take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...be it to her best friend's kitchen table...or a charming inn in the woods...when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...a month...and a year...

[shmeep]

I like that, Bebe. All so true.

Here's one I finally found online. It took a bit of hunting. It's by L.M. Montgomery, who wrote the Anne of Green Gables books. I hadn't read it in at least fifteen years, but something about this poem stayed with me all this time and made me want to hunt for it.

~ COULD WE BUT KNOW ~

Could we but know how often worn and weary are those we meet;
Would we condemn because they call life bitter, which we think sweet?
Would not our thought and judgment be more tender to friend and foe,
Our greeting warmed with more of love's own kindness,
Could we but know?

Could we but know how pain may lurk 'neath laughter - Too keen to bear
And how the hearts we deem so hard and reckless are dark with care,
Would not our idle tongues be slow to utter our words of blame?
Would we not call what we had reckoned folly some gentler name?
Would we not think 'twere wise to be forgiving of doubtful mood,
Of all mistakes and seeming slights and errors not understood?
Would not our feet be swifter in the going help to bestow?
Our own lives better, nobler for the knowing,
Could we but know?

[Deleted]

That's GREAT, shmeep, I really like that, too.

Here's one my grandfather wrote ca. 1923. I memorized it because it's so befitting on so many levels.

Be not the first to discover
the blot on the fame of a friend
But be the first to cross over
for friendship is true to the end

We none of us know one another
and auft into error we fall
So let us speak well of each other
or speak not of others at all.

[Duchess of Lashes]

divinemrse said:

That's GREAT, shmeep, I really like that, too.

Here's one my grandfather wrote ca. 1923. I memorized it because it's so befitting on so many levels.

Be not the first to discover
the blot on the fame of a friend
But be the first to cross over
for friendship is true to the end

We none of us know one another
and auft into error we fall
So let us speak well of each other
or speak not of others at all.

Isn't it amazing that now, almost a century later, those words probably ring truer than they did at the time they were written?

[maggiethecat]

All these beautiful words, and I have nothing to add but silliness . . . in an infinitely lighter vein, here's a little something for rducasey to run by her kids on Monday morning. Words to live by, and here's hoping they spot the grammatical error.

I eat when I'm hungry.
I drink when I'm dry.
If a tree don't fall on me
I'll live 'til I die. ;D

[Duchess of Lashes]

Not to put a damper on the "silliness" but I mentioned there would be more.....it's still unfinished and incomplete.....

PART TWO:

Three months had passed and he had seen enough of waging war,
He wondered if he would ever embrace the life he knew before.
At night he’d dream in tortured sleep, wake with eyes and mind so bleary,
And though he did as good soldiers do, his head and heart were weary.

He longed for home, for open air, those things he took for granted,
The images he’d brought with him were long ago supplanted
By doom and gloom and heartache, the injured and the dying,
He’d closed his mind, toughened his soul, but he couldn’t block the crying.

And the newsy letters from family only made that wanting stronger,
Though he knew he had a job to do, he found the days were growing longer,
Mired in mounting disillusion for his purpose and the plan,
What he’d witnessed shook the convictions of an ordinary man.

He’d been searching for the answer as to why, but hadn’t found it,
And the words that came from Washington only served to dance around it.
Then one afternoon in a marketplace, while his troops patrolled the street,
He heard a voice from somewhere close; its tone was soft and sweet.

From out of the shadowed ruins appeared a young Iraqi child,
His eyes were dark, his lashes thick, his hair was tossed and wild.
His clothing hung disheveled, dust layered his olive skin,
And the expression on that innocent face touched something deep in him.

For standing there before him was a tiny casualty of this war.
He knew the horrors he had seen; this child, no doubt, saw more.
He reached a hand deep in his pocket, offered a simple token to the boy,
And out of the depth of his haunted eyes came the slightest hint of joy.

There was a moment’s hesitation; he crouched before him with bended knee,
He held his gaze, his eyes were kind, “Don’t be afraid of me.”
A shy smile split that tiny face; he reached out with a timid hand,
And when their fingers met, a friendship was born in a ravaged land.

[rducasey]

longlashes said:

Not to put a damper on the "silliness" but I mentioned there would be more.....it's still unfinished and incomplete.....

Wow, Lori, that is so well done! I love the imagery. I am so looking forward to more. Karma to ya.........

[bjobsessed]

Very touching. Brings out all kinds of images and emotions Can't wait to read more.

[Chris]

divinemrse said:

That's GREAT, shmeep, I really like that, too.

Here's one my grandfather wrote ca. 1923. I memorized it because it's so befitting on so many levels.

Be not the first to discover
the blot on the fame of a friend
But be the first to cross over
for friendship is true to the end

We none of us know one another
and auft into error we fall
So let us speak well of each other
or speak not of others at all.

Such a wise grandfather you have.

maggiethecat said:

I eat when I'm hungry.
I drink when I'm dry.
If a tree don't fall on me
I'll live 'til I die. ;D

So very true!!

Longlashes your poem is beautiful!!

The way you describe his thoughts is so vivid, you can almost feel what he is feeling, great writing.

Take care and keep smiling
- Chris

[Chris]

Before I post my next poem, I would like to tell you when and where I wrote the poems I have posted in this thread.

In 1998 I worked as a camp counselor in a summer camp in Virginia. It was the first time I did anything like that, I had been on vacations with family and friends, but this was my first trip on my own and the first time I was gone for so long - I was there for three months. I was the best experience of my life and I loved it but at the same time, it was a roller-coaster-ride. Rewarding, fun, hard work, I was homesick at times but at the same time had a blast, in short, a roller-coaster-ride.

On Saturdays we would have a so-called "Friendship Service" where we would sing, play music and read stories and poetry.
During the summer I wrote You come to a strange place and read it at the Friendship Service.

I came back to camp again in 1999 and that's when I wrote Words and a poem I call For Meg.
The camp was a camp for children and adults with disabilities. I was the camp counselor for Meg, she was about 20 years old, I think. She was in a wheelchair but could walk a short distance, had constant seizures, couldn't speak and still she seemed to be very happy and loved to dance and have fun, she was the best.
I wrote the poem, read it to her and asked her, if she wanted me to read it for her at Friendship Service which she did.

And, well, here it is:

FOR MEG

Let's play
Let's sing
Let's have some fun

Forget about those
Who only see obstacles
Who troubles
And worries you

Never mind those
Who do not care
Who has no compassion
And don't understand

Let's just play
And sing
And help each other
Enjoy life


And for laughs, here I am at our very own "Hollywood Walk of Fame"



Take care and keep smiling
- Chris

[hoosier]

I have been meaning to thank you for sharing your poem "For Meg". So many people choose to see only the exterior of a person and miss getting to know the "real" you. Their loss. Meg was lucky that you were willing to look beyond her disability and see the real her. Karma for your poem and for being just a nice all-around person.

[mlm828]

A colleague posted this on my legal list serve, and I immediately thought of the poetry lovers here:

Dear Poetry Lover,

Nine years ago we began a Knopf tradition. To celebrate National Poetry Month, we sent a poem a day by e-mail for 30 days to anyone who asked to receive them. Now, with over 25,000 subscribers, we are proud to continue with a whole new series of daily poems. Each day during the month of April you will receive a poem from some of the best poets in the world including Mark Strand, Sharon Olds, and Laurie Sheck, as well as classics from Langston Hughes, Robert Burns and more. This year, we'll also be featuring audio clips from The Knopf National Poetry Month
Collection, special printable broadsides, signed books and more.

If you know of someone who might like to join the poem-a-day party, they may visit www.randomhouse.com/knopf/poetry/poemaday/ to sign up.