I remember I fell through that wooden floorboard.
I was careless where I stepped, and the weight of my mistake made me fall right through.
I remember the embarrassment I felt... it nearly broke my self-esteem.
I can hear them use their traitorous tongues.
I remember I walked carefully over those wooden floorboards.
I see their eyes glare and hear the whispers of people who judge me for treading so cautiously.
I am wary of what they are saying. ..of what they may think.
I walk confidently around that wooden floor.
I am aware of their judgements and their hateful glares.
I don't care what they think.
I no longer have to tread so carefully.
I can run free.
I remember...
OVERCOMING
Troubles are always;
Grief often tries to be so:
Both, milestones to growth:-
Cynics must show wrath;
Still, we need to overcome,
With our utmost might.
Faith under fire
When it comes right down to the wire
How are you going to stand?
Are you going to be salt or extremely bland
When your faith is under fire
Don’t believe the words of the liar.
When the smoke starts to rise and obscure the view,
And the whispers tell you there’s nothing left in you,
That’s the moment the embers begin to glow,
To reveal the deep roots that run down below.
It’s easy to burn when the wind starts to blow,
But a fire refined has a different kind of show.
It purifies the spirit, it sharpens the sight,
Turning the shadows into brilliant light.
So let the heat rise, let the furnace test the grain,
There is power in the standing, there is purpose in the pain.
Keep your feet on the rock, keep your eyes on the prize,
For a faith under fire is a faith that will rise.
I am a dangerous dream,
might I add an influx of disdain on your judgements of me,
Distant mirrors dancing in the image of coddled leaps towards your faith,
Turned to shadow, staining my internal bed once clean,
Intern I sprouted wings for flying far from thee,
Your image I flay,
You’re becoming a memory,
I am a dangerous dream yet not as deadly as thee,
Running in molten thought for the melting of me,
Dancing all the while slaying my prophetic dreams,
In an instant turning like a page for wiping the slate clean,
I see through you now,
yet to you, I’ve become unseen,
All your mischievous doings found ashened and wrinkled never reaching me,
You are a dangerous vision,
A weakened image,
A comedic nightmare,
I remain a dangerous dream…
It's about finding myself
the person I really am
it's about overcoming
what I don't think I can
it's about going as far as I can on the journey
and finding my destination
it's about feeling complete
and finally accomplished
Speaking has been very hard to do
now at 72 its always evident since birth
maybe not so bad, pre-school, I felt
thinking my stammer the only one on earth
But over the years, it's come and go
causing me many anxious times
school, I hated every day I was there
so glad to leave to reach my climb
Many so-called magic cures I tried
hoping for release from my frozen tongue
none did much to escape my cage
though felt free when a song I sung
Now looking back over life's years
except when singing, tongue was stuck
I realise now acceptance is my key
it is what it is, so get on life's truck
If I had accepted it these years ago
what a lot of stress I would have missed
but it's all history now, move on forward
overcome stammering, controlling words fished!
People will always make you cry, but I've always had broad shoulders
They said we're like two birds on a wire
Except one bird doesn't know how to fly
And the other just waits for a chance to get higher
And she says "it's you and me, not you against me"
What a goddamn liar
It's like being friends is a job
And I'm here because the notice said that theyre ready to hire
Though I try and try and try and try but it seems that I can't get any further
It's like I'm watching you drift away from me and yet you're right here, though you're deaf towards my plea
Almost like I'm chained to a chair and dreaming of a day when I truly will feel free
Free to look, to speak and not use my physique as a way to forespeak the state of our friendship.
I looked up to you but it seems that you've gone too far high
But I'll wait for you forever, if it means no goodbyes
And hence our friendship is like flowers fallen from a tree
Though they're on the ground, they're the prettiest thing you'll see
I'm safe,
Guided,
Jesus rocks my soul,
Strength through loyalty, our faith,
Overcomes setbacks.
ECHOING THE DREAM AND OVERCOMING
(A FLOWING TANKA TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING)
It’s Doctor King’s Day;
Let’s give him echoing praise:
Nourishing The Dream:-
Through today’s nightmarish threats,
Let’s ensure the Dream’s coming:-
King’s voice echoing
Throughout Sisyphean trials,
We shall overcome:-
We’re as the waxing moon:
Moving onto fulfillment:-
Although King is dead,
His dream streams reality:
Deeply canvassing:-
Oh yes, dreams do become true;
Dying, he canvassed his will:-
On that balcony,
Where King was freely murdered,
A deep canvas echoed
From that balcony-mountain:
“I’ll be gone, but you'll get there.”
Martin sowed a dream;
Nightmares are not to be reaped:-
You reap what is sown:
We’ll reap from Martin’s garden;
Not from Donald’s plowed cesspool:-
Reaping King’s harvest,
Up the mountaintop we go:
Our eyes on the prize:-
Our Drum Major echoing,
We shall [indeed], overcome:-
I reject another year
of not knowing where
two thousand & twenty five
planted seeds of inspiration
that stayed buried
in the curated soil of hope…
The cemetery of dead dreams
Suffocated by dirt.
I don’t mourn
I’ll begin again and plant
two thousand and twenty six
dreams that didn’t die.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
I stare at a reflection that once held the pain of a broken spirit.
Collapsed inside themselves, where light had ceased to exist,
where regrets once held a smile captive, and the thought of truly loving who they are seemed like the hardest thing to do.
I could recall how they accepted the agony of defeat—submitting to the harsh realities of life and never seeing their story ending with a
“Happily Ever After.”
I could remember their insecurities, low self-esteem, and discarded dreams, as if to tell themselves they were meant to be nothing more than what they are.
How their permanent scars have now been left as a reminder that they have made too many mistakes to ever bounce back from a world that's not made of rubber.
However, here they stand, bold and undefeated,
confident despite being mistreated,
no longer looking at life as if a smile could never be recycled, joy could never be regained, and scars viewed as survival stories waiting to be told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
I stare at a reflection that once held the pain of a broken spirit.
Collapsed inside themselves, where light had ceased to exist,
where regrets once held a smile captive, and the thought of truly loving who they are seemed like the hardest thing to do.
I could recall how they accepted the agony of defeat—submitting to the harsh realities of life and never seeing their story ending with a
“Happily Ever After.”
I could remember their insecurities, low self-esteem, and discarded dreams, as if to tell themselves they were meant to be nothing more than what they are.
How their permanent scars have now been left as a reminder that they have made too many mistakes to ever bounce back from a world that's not made of rubber.
However, here they stand, bold and undefeated,
confident despite being mistreated,
no longer looking at life as if a smile could never be recycled, joy could never be regained, and scars viewed as survival stories waiting to be told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
I stare at a reflection that once held the pain of a broken spirit.
Collapsed inside themselves, where light had ceased to exist,
where regrets once held a smile captive, and the thought of truly loving who they are seemed like the hardest thing to do.
I could recall how they accepted the agony of defeat—submitting to the harsh realities of life and never seeing their story ending with a
“Happily Ever After.”
I could remember their insecurities, low self-esteem, and discarded dreams, as if to tell themselves they were meant to be nothing more than what they are.
How their permanent scars have now been left as a reminder that they have made too many mistakes to ever bounce back from a world that's not made of rubber.
However, here they stand, bold and undefeated,
confident despite being mistreated,
no longer looking at life as if a smile could never be recycled, joy could never be regained, and scars never viewed as a survival story waiting to be told.
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