Untitled - Anon

Let each man learn to know himself;
To gain that knowledge let him labor
To improve those failings in himself
Which he condemns so in his neighbor.

How lenient our own faults we view,
And conscience's voice adeptly smother;
Yet, oh, how harshly we review
The selfsame failings in another!

And if you meet an erring one
Whose deeds are blamable and thoughtless,
Consider, ere you cast the stone,
If you yourself are pure and faultless.

Oh, list to that small voice within,
Whose whisperings oft make men confounded,
And trumpet not another's sin;
You'd blush deep if your own were sounded.

And in self-judgment if you find
Your deeds to others are superior,
To you has Providence been kind,
As you should be to those inferior.

Example sheds a genial ray
Of light which men are apt to borrow;
So first improve yourself today
And then improve your friends tomorrow.

Still I Rise - Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

I would live in your love - Sara Teasdale

I would live in your love as the seagrasses live in the sea
Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by each wave that recedes
I would empty my soul of the dreams that have gathered in me
I would beat with your heart as it beats, I would follow your soul as it leads

A Loving Peace From You - James Tobin

From the glowing embers of your spirit
Came a little warmth of your love
Together we set it in a cozy little spot
Safe from the world up above

Then a soothing breath from your lungs
Helped to ignite the flame
On that lonely candle
In the core of my soul

As time passed day by day
Conflicts caused great winds to blow
But you cupped your hands around it
And it just flickered with a briliant glow

They say that nothing is forever
But I don't believe that's true
That little candle in my heart
Is a loving peace from you

Six Silent Tears - Reginald Thornton

Last night before I went to bed,
Thoughts of you filled my troubled head.
Though I've not cried this way in many years,
On to my pillow fell six silent tears. 
 
The first was for your smile that I miss, 
And the taste of your tender lips that I long to kiss.
The second was for your angel face,
And the thoughts of your warm, loving embrace. 
 
 The third comes as no surprise,
 As I thought of your beautiful, bright, loving eyes.
 After this the fourth came rolling...
 Instead of my pillow, it was you I should be holding.
 
 The fifth came for one reason alone...
 I felt my love for you was not fully shown.
 I really miss you, my love, my dear...
 There just fell my sixth tear.

A credo for support

Do not see my disability as the problem.
Recognize that my disability is an attribute.
Do not see my disability as a deficit.
It is you who see me as deviant and helpless.
Do not try to fix me because I am not broken.
Support me. I can make my contribution to the community in my way.
Do not see me as your client. I am your fellow citizen.
See me as your neighbor. Remember, none of us can be self-sufficient.
Do not try to modify my behavior. Be still and listen.
Do not try to change me. You have no right.
Help me learn what I want to know.
Do not hide your uncertainty behind professional distance.
Be a person who listens and does not take my struggle away from me by trying to make it better.
Do not use theories and strategies on me.
Be with me. And when we struggle with each other, let that give rise to self-reflection.
Do not try to control me. I have a right to my power as a person.
What you call non-compliance or manipulation may actually be the only way I can exert some control over my life.
Do not teach me to be obedient, submissive, and polite.
I need to feel entitled to say no if I am to protect myself.
Do not be charitable towards me.
Be my ally against those who exploit me for their own gratification.
Do not try to be my friend. I deserve more than that.
Get to know me. We may become friends.
Do not help me, even if it does make you feel good.
Ask me if I need your help. Let me show you how you can best assist me.
Do not admire me. A desire to live a full life does not warrant adoration.
Respect me, for respect presumes equity.
Do not tell, correct, and lead.
Listen, support, and follow.
Do not work on me.
Work with me.

Beauty - Robert Bridges

For beauty being the best of all we know 
Sums up the unsearchable and secret aims 
Of nature and on joys whose earthly names 
Were never told can form and sense bestow
And man has sped his instinct to outgo 
The step of science and against her shames
Imagination stakes out heavenly claims
Building a tower above the head of woe
Nor is there fairer work for beauty found 
Than that she win in nature her release 
From all the woes that in the world abound
Nay with his sorrow may his love increase
If from man's greater need beauty redound
And claim his tears for homage of his peace

Risk Thyself - Anonymous

To laugh is to risk
Appearing the fool
To weep is to risk
Appearing sentimental
To reach out for another is to risk
Involvement
To expose feelings is to risk
Exposing the self
To place ideas and dreams before the crowd
Is to risk loss
To love is to risk
Rejection
To live is to risk
Dying
To hope is to risk
Despair
To try at all is to risk
Failure

But, we must risk
Because the biggest hazard of all
Is to risk
Nothing
For those who risk
Nothing
Do nothing
Have nothing
Are nothing

Untitled - Anonymous

When the animals come to us, asking for our help

will we know what they are saying?

When the plants speak to us in their delicate, beautiful language

will we be able to answer them?

When the planet herself sings to us in our dreams

will we be able to wake ourselves and act?

Creed to live by - Anonymous

Untitled - Anonymous

I must conquer my loneliness alone.
I must be happy with myself,
or I have nothing to offer.

Two halves have little choice but to join
and yes, they do make a whole.

But two wholes when they coincide
That is beauty. That is love.

Untitled - Anonymous

Is this death which I see before me

With my back towards mortality?

Let me make haste into the world

I dread to enter, and as mush as I aspire

Not one deed can be completed in order

To escape its inevitable presence

So I leave thee with a reminiscence

Of what I have fabricated and with

Time we shall all face once again.

Live each day as it is, for the unknown

When tomorrow starts without me - Anonymous

When tomorrow starts without me, and I'm not there to see

If the sun should rise and find your eyes, all filled with tears for me,

I wish so much you wouldn't cry, the way you did today,

While thinking of the many things we didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me, as much as I love you,

And each time that you think of me, I know you'll miss me too.

But when tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand,

That an angel came and called my name and took me by the hand.

And said my place was ready in Heaven far above,

And that I'd have to leave behind, all those things I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away, a tear fell from my eye,

For all my life I'd always thought, I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for, so much yet to do,

It seemed almost impossible that I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays, the good ones and the bad,

I thought of all the love we shared and all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday, just even for awhile,

I'd say good-bye and kiss you and maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized that could never be,

For emptiness and memories would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things, I might miss come tomorrow,

I thought of you and when I did, my heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through Heaven's gates, I felt so much at home.

When God looked down and smiled at me from his great golden throne.

He said, "This is eternity and all I've promised you.

Today your life on Earth is past and here it starts anew.

I promise no tomorrow, but today will always last,

And since each day's the same day, there's no longing for the past."

"But you have been so faithful, so trusting and so true,

Though there were times you did some things you know you shouldn't do

But you have been forgiven and now at last you're free,

So won't you take my hand now and share My life with Me"

So when tomorrow starts without me, don't think we're far apart,

For everytime you think of me, I'm right here in your heart.

Untitled - Anonymous

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.

What love actually is - Anonymous

Why do we close our eyes when we sleep? When we cry?
When we imagine? When we kiss?
This is because the most beautiful things in the world are unseen

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird
and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours
we join up with them and fall in
mutual weirdness and call it love

There are things that we never want to let go of
people we never want to leave behind
but keep in mind that letting go isn't the end
it's the beginning of a new life

Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt
those who have searched and those who have tried
For only they can appreciate the importance of the people
who have touched their lives

A great love? It's when you shed tears and still you care for him
It's when he ignores you and still you long for him
It's when he begins to love another and yet you still smile
and say I'm happy for you

If love fails, set yourself free
Let your heart spread its wings and fly again
Remember you may find love and lose it, but when love dies
you never have to die with it

Loving is not how you forget but how you forgive
not how you listen but how you understand
not what you see but how you feel
and not how you let go but how you hold on

It's more dangerous to weep inwardly rather than outwardly
Outward tears can be wiped away while secret tears scar forever

In love, rarely do we win
but when love is true, even if you lose
you still win just for having the tingle of loving someone
more than you love yourself

There comes a time when we have to stop loving someone
not because that person has stopped loving us
but because we have found out
that they'd be happier if we let go

It's best to wait for the one you want than settle for one that's available
Best to wait for the one you love than one who is around
Best to wait for the right one
because life is too short to waste on just someone

If you really love someone never let go
don't believe that letting go means that you love best
instead fight for your love
that's what true love is

Laugh to your heart's content.

Contentment - Oliver Holmes

Little I ask; my wants are few
I only wish a hut of stone
A very plain brown stone will do
That I may call my own
And close at hand is such a one
In yonder street that fronts the sun

Plain food is quite enough for me
Three courses are as good as ten
If Nature can subsist on three
Thank Heaven for three. Amen
I always thought cold victual nice
My choice would be vanilla-ice

I care not much for gold or land
Give me a mortgage here and there
Some good bank-stock, some note of hand
Or trifling railroad share
I only ask that Fortune send
A little more than I shall spend

Honors are silly toys, I know
And titles are but empty names
I would, perhaps, be Plenipo
But only near St. James
I'm very sure I should not care
To fill our Gubernator's chair

Jewels are baubles; it is a sin
To care for such unfruitful things
One good-sized diamond in a pin
Some, not so large, in rings
A ruby, and a pearl, or so
Will do for me; I laugh at show

My dame should dress in cheap attire
Good, heavy silks are never dear
I own perhaps I might desire
Some shawls of true Cashmere
Some marrowy crapes of China silk
Like wrinkled skins on scalded milk

I would not have the horse I drive
So fast that folks must stop and stare
An easy gait, two forty-five
Suits me; I do not care
Perhaps, for just a single spurt
Some seconds less would do no hurt

Of pictures, I should like to own
Titians and Raphaels three or four
I love so much their style and tone
One Turner, and no more
A landscape, foreground golden dirt
The sunshine painted with a squirt

Of books but few, some fifty score
For daily use, and bound for wear
The rest upon an upper floor
Some little luxury there
Of red morocco's gilded gleam
And vellum rich as country cream

Busts, cameos, gems, such things as these
Which others often show for pride
I value for their power to please
And selfish churls deride
One Stradivarius, I confess
Two Meerschaums, I would fain possess

Wealth's wasteful tricks I will not learn
Nor ape the glittering upstart fool
Shall not carved tables serve my turn
But all must be of buhl?
Give grasping pomp its double share
I ask but one recumbent chair

Thus humble let me live and die
Nor long for Midas' golden touch
If Heaven more generous gifts deny
I shall not miss them much
Too grateful for the blessing lent
Of simple tastes and mind content

I am a child of royal birth - Anna Johnson

I am a child of royal birth
My Father is King of heaven and earth
My spirit was born in the courts on high
A child beloved, a Princess am I
I was nurtured there; I lived by His side
In a home where patience and love abide
My Mother was there in that glorious place
Blessing her children with queenly grace
I grew to the stature that spirits grow
I gained the knowledge I needed to know
I was taught the truth and I knew the plan
That God and the Christ laid out for man
I was there when the stars of morning sang
I mingled my voice when the heavens rang
I was there to rejoice, to praise, and applaud
The shouts of joy from the sons of God
I waited my turn and I came down to earth
Through the wonderful channel of human birth
Then the curtains were closed and the past was gone
On the future too, the curtains were drawn
I live on the earth and God willed it so
With freedom to choose the way I should go
I must search the truth; I must serve and obey
I must walk by faith many miles of the way
Someday I’ll go back I’ll answer the call
I’ll return with my record to the Father of all
The books will be opened and so will my heart
There will be rejoicing if I’ve done my part
My Father the King, with his infinite love
Will welcome me back to the mansions above
The curtains will part and eternity
In its light and glory will open to me

Mind Heart and Spirit- Andrew Byrne

I cannot ease your aching heart
Or take your pain away,
But let me stay and take your hand
And walk with you today.
I'll listen when you need to talk
I'll wipe away your tears,
I'll share your worries when they come
I'll help you face your fears.
I'm here and I will stand by you
Each hill you have to climb,
So take my hand let's face the world
Live one day at a time.
You're not alone for I'm still here
I'll go that extra mile,
And when your grief is easier
I'll help you learn to smile

Through the eye of the Beholder - Andrew Byrne

Have you ever noticed
When standing on some peak
If you shout something out
How it does repeat
The echo copies it all
Everything you say and do
Before it sends it back
On the breeze to you
People call it an echo
But really it is life
Reflecting all of your actions
From you it does thrive
This aspect with the echo
supplies to each and everything
Life will give you back
Exactly what you've put in
All your words and actions
Are reflected in this way
By everything you say and do
On every single day

If - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies
Or being hated don't give way to hating
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise

If you can dream and not make dreams your master
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
And stoop and build em up with worn-out tools

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you
If all men count with you, but none too much
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it
And which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

For what purpose - Anonymous

For what purpose was I born?  I don't see

To speak words that no one will listen to

No matter how loud I shout them

To throw up dates and events

Just as I recorded them and be pronounced

A genius.  To sit through school day after

Day and be referred to as a "good child"

To hear things I shouldn't and then be

Instructed to forget

For what reason am I still here?  To see

Man destroy each other and we listen

To them preach godliness and good will

To take things as they are and never question

To live a clean life only to rot away in your

Grave.  To have things your soul desires prohibited

To be told God is good, but disregard the fact

That the world - his so called "creation"

Is bad

But these are thoughts I must

Not think of if I am to live

I Will Be There - Anonymous

If one day you feel like crying
Call me
I won't promise I will make you laugh
But I can cry with you

If one day you want to run away
Don't be afraid to call me
I won't promise to ask you to stop
But I can run with you

If one day you don't want to listen
to anyone
Call me
I promise to be there for you
And I promise to be very quiet

But if one day you call
And there is no answer
Come quickly to see me
Perhaps I need you

Do whatever you need to do - Nancye Sims

If need be, go it alone

your victory will be even sweeter

If need be, go slowly

how fast you get there

isn't important

If need be, start over

again and again

success becomes closer each time

If need be, accept whatever

you have to

it may not be easy to do

but it makes everything easier

If need be, stop running

so that happiness can find you

If need be, admit that

you need help

that is helping yourself

If need be, ignore fear

for without fear

anything is possible

If need be, make a change

it could change your life

If need be, surrender

without struggle, there is peace

If need be, compromise

but keep your principles

If need be, continue

what seems to be impossible

it only is impossible if you quit

If need be, stop

and a new life will start

If need be, try something different

you will be wiser

If need be, wait

amazing things happen every day

If need be, live with uncertainty

certainty is in trusting yourself

If need be, have faith

and faithfully you will be given

strength

If need be, go forward

your dreams are waiting

patiently for you

Lies - Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Lying to the young is wrong.
Proving to them that lies are true is wrong.
Telling them
            that God’s in his heaven
and all’s well with the world
                             is wrong.
They know what you mean.
                        They are people too.
Tell them the difficulties
                          can’t be counted,
and let them see
                not only
                        what will be
but see
       with clarity
                   these present times.
Say obstacles exist they must encounter,
sorrow comes,
             hardship happens.
The hell with it.
                 Who never knew
the price of happiness
                      will not be happy.
Forgive no error
                you recognize,
it will repeat itself,
                      a hundredfold
and afterward
             our pupils
will not forgive in us
                      what we forgave.

Life is Fine - Langston Hughes

I went down to the river
I set down on the bank
I tried to think but couldn't
So I jumped in and sank

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died

But it was
Cold in that water!
It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground
I thought about my Baby
And thought I would jump down

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died

But it was
High up there!
It was high!

So since I'm still here livin'
I guess I will live on
I could've died for love
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler
And you may see me cry
I'll be dogged, sweet Baby
If you gonna see me die

Life is fine!
Fine as wine!
Life is fine!

Blank Canvas - Javan

We are born into the world
Like a blank canvas
And each person that crosses our path
Takes up the brush
And makes his mark
Upon our surface

So it is that we develop
And we must realize there comes a day
That we must take up the brush
And finish the work
For we can determine
If we are to be just another painting
Or a masterpiece

The Colour of my Love - Foster & Janov

I'll paint my mood in shades of blue
Paint my soul to be with you
I'll sketch your lips in shaded tones
Draw your mouth to match my own
I'll draw your arms around my waist
And then all doubt I shall erase
I'll paint the rain that softly lands
On the crescents of your hands
I'll trace a hand to wipe your tears
A calming look to quell your fears
A silhouette of dark and light
While we hold each other tight
I'll paint a sun to warm your heart
Swearing that we'll never part
I'll paint the stars in the evening sky
Draw their light into our eyes
I'll draw a striking touch of grace
That shows the gentleness of your face
I'll trace your hand to hold in mine
A touching kiss to mark the time
I'll draw the years all passing by
So much to learn, so much to try
I'll paint the truth, show how I feel
Try to make you completely real
I'll use a brush so light and fine
To draw you close and make you mine
And with this ring our lives will start
In swearing that we'll never part
I offer love you can not buy
Devoted love until we die

I am a Rock - Simon & Garfunkel

A winter day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock
I am an island

I have built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain
Its laughter and its loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island

Don't talk about love
I've heard the words before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings
That have died
If I never loved, I never would have cried
I am a rock
I am an island

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

Untitled - Anon

Living in this dark world

No where to call my own

No one to help or carry

No one to lead or guide

Running through the wilderness

Clothes torn, body aching, heartbroken

Must free myself, must be happy

To terminate this long journey

Ending my life now

When I hear your name - Gloria Fuertes

When I hear your name
I feel a little robbed of it
It seems unbelievable
That half a dozen letters could say so much

My compulsion is to blast down every wall with your name
I’d paint it on all the houses
There wouldn’t be wellI hadn’t leaned into
To shout your name there
Nor a stone mountain
Where I hadn’t uttered
Those six separate letters
That are echoed back

My compulsion is
To teach the birds to sing it
To teach the fish to drink it
To teach men that there is nothing
Like the madness of repeating your name

My compulsion is to forget altogether
The other 22 letters, all the numbers
The books I’ve read, the poems I’ve written
To say hello with your name
To beg bread with your name
“She always says the same thing,” they’d say when they saw me
And I’d be so proud, so happy, so self-contained

And I’ll go to the other world with your name on my tongue
And all their questions I’ll answer with your name
The judges and saints will understand nothing
God will sentence me to repeating it endlessly and forever

The night is dark - Anonymous

The night is dark

and I am blind

from my hand the stick

is torn by the wind

Bare is my sack

empty is my heart

a burden are both

a useless load

I hear the touch

of someone's hand -

I pray you allow me

to carry your load

Together we go

The world is black

I carry the sack

and he, my heart

Illusion - Julian Arizona

I thought I saw you look at me

I thought I saw you stare

Do you know I think you're cute

I like the look you bare

Are my eyes deceiving me

When I see you standing there

Are you playing tricks on me

Just to prove I care

Are you an illusion

Is it only in my mind

Do you look at me

As I do you

To see if you can find

A little bit of interest

A stolen glance your way

Will you come and talk to me