Best Reid Poems
Stef, born in New Zealand’s fine country,
Moved to Canada aged 4 with her parents,
Where she had a boating accident aged 9,
Which amputated her right foot for her life.
She’s married to fellow Paralympian fast,
Canadian wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos,
And they both train at Loughborough Uni,
Where there’s a plethora of sports facilities.
Stef graduated from good Queens University,
In Biochemistry with honours and at times,
Is a professional speaker, a fashion model,
And lay preacher of the gospel and the way.
Before the accident Stephanie played rugby,
But afterwards she could not do this because,
Her prosthetic was at risk of detaching itself,
Mid-game and injuring near placed players.
So she went into track and field athletics,
Practised until she became sick and tired,
Which saw her make the 2008 Paralympics,
In Beijing when she won gold for the sprint.
She graced the podium often at small meets,
In Manchester and in London. Christchurch
Saw her flourish when she won two bronzes:
One for the long jump and one for the 200m.
In Swansea at the European games in 2014,
Stef took home for the T44 long jump a gold,
And in the London Paras which introduced,
So many to disability sport, she won a silver.
In Rio she won another silver, on the mark
For TeamGB. She hasn’t always represented,
Britain because when she was much younger,
She competed for Canada’s rocky territory.
Melissa always dreamed of being a beach lifeguard,
But when it got to the age when she asked about it,
She was told she could not because of her eye sight,
Since she is visually impaired and so can't see well.
Whilst studying sports science she found the triathlon,
To be a sport which she could do - a guide sees for you,
And so trained hard every day on a static turbo trainer,
Where you don't need someone to show you the way.
Her swimming background means that she does best,
At the swimming part of the three-disciplined triathlon,
The other components being cycling and running, PT5,
But the honest truth is she really loves the whole thing.
In 2013 in Antalya, Turkey, at the ETU European Champs,
Para-triathlon, Melissa won the hip-hop, most desired gold,
And in 2014 in Kitzbühel in Austria, Melissa won the silver,
At the ETU European Champs, where everybody else was.
2015, and the ETU Europeans again but this time Geneva,
And Melissa took the bronze, then 2016, the Netherlands,
And Melissa bagged another bronze. She teaches swimming,
Was born Nottinghamshire in 1990, and trains in Cornwall.
In Rio she won a bronze and so stood tall on the podium,
When the GB anthem sounded for her and Nicole Walters,
She’s already training hard for the next Paralympic games,
Which are to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in the year 2020.
Gordon, or Gio, is a wheelchair tennis player,
And comes from Helensburgh in Scotland,
He won the very first Wimbledon this year,
For the wheelchair men’s singles grandstand.
Six weeks after leaving hospital with a chair,
He won the B Division Singles in Glasgow
At the age of just fourteen, and then square,
He became the National Champion Apollo.
Gordon then turned 18 in September 2008,
The year he won at the Juniors in Tarbes,
Then he kept this title in 2009, then rate,
In Turkey 2010 Gordon had fourth agility.
In 2015 he won the French and US Opens,
And then in 2016 he won both Wimbledon,
And also the French Open again, no tokens:
It was real, and everyone cheered Gordon!
He now lives in Alexandria, a very small town
In West Dumbartonshire: comes from a family
Of tennis players and began playing the mown,
When he was six, Karen Ross is coach, history.
Thirty-two imperfect kisses march out across the very first page of a scattering
Of another lover's love letters.
A book which, read cover to well-loved cover in an hour or so,
Contains unimaginable sadness and unabridged despair,
But undeniable love, too, much like our own.
My Love, my bones, which are yours now, ache to read of such loss...
And I hope it's never us.
And, in avoiding pain, mirror love, and grow love, and keep love.
With you as my well-loved cover, you as each fragile page and printed line,
When thirty-two imperfect kisses perfect our life in literature.
from the minute you gave your soul
into the safe keeping of Jesus Christ
you went on to lead an upstanding,
productive and blessed life
from the moment you met and married your true love,
your husband Kenneth Reid
you reaped a bountiful harvest
and built a business with God's righteous seed
the enemy came upon you shooting arrows
from every angle and in every way
yet our Father God continued to shield you
and lift you up each and every day
you fought the good fight Debra
and now you can gracefully lay down your sword
for Father God has called you up heaven
to receive your just reward
so today we salute you Debra
for being a soldier in the army of God
and your memory will live on forever
embedded within our hearts
you've been a trooper and a true disciple
until the very end
and our love for you will never die,
Debra Reid Our Sister, Our Friend
Manifesto of Reid Lewis
All of the great men that ever lived created a manifesto. Here is mine.
1-That although Black and White Folks are diametrically opposed
living together is a necessity and mutual respect, not admiration
should rule for mutual survival.
2- Our children could learn more and accept the realities of life if we
stay out of the way.
3- Realizing that the planet earth will not exist is we keep on going
the way we are, all of us should become a positive force and
create a new world of peace, love and happiness for all.
Reid J Lewis
Old suzanna..' Oh; old suzanna.. reid.'
She promoted 'jabs and genocide'
With a black heart full of greed.?
(Reid Glacier, Alaska, 2024)
Reid Glacier - Glacier Bay
Your electric blues
Reflect the light of deepest space
Like tropical waves
Suspended in time
Slow moving
At the pace of mountains
Water seeking water
Like a child returning home
(9/20/24)