| Poetry People| Poetry Site| #1| #2| #3| #4| #5| #6| Forum| Webring| HOME A Poets Story Robert M. Hensel was born in Rota, Spain in 1969. Currently a resident of Oswego, NY, he is an international poet-writer. On October 1st of 2000, Robert was honored when the mayor of his home town declared a week for the disabled, "Beyond Limitations Week", in his name. Here is his story: Living With Spina Bifida I grew up with a birth defect known as spina bifida, a disability that affects my sense of balance, causing me to walk with a limp. Not only does it affect the function of the legs, but it also has an impact on the kidneys, causing them to deteriorate. The disability has had its ups and downs. As a young child, I can remember the way other children would look at me and stare because of the way that I walked. There were many times that my schoolmates would laugh at me and call me names simply because of their lack of understanding of why I was a little different, especially back in the mid 70s and early 80s. Children then were just unwilling to take the time to learn why one of their classmates might walk, speak or seem noticeably different from themselves. Now that I am an adult, I have noticed that the stares and names have begun to fade, and judgments that once were negative have begun to turn toward acceptance. The signing of the ADA has played a great part in breaking down some of those barriers that, as a child, left me to fight a war that seemed to have no end. Now I look beyond what I can't do and focus on what I CAN. I have learned that limitations open doors that have been closed, showing other ways to meet our needs. I have always looked at life as a challenge, grasping each obstacle with open arms. There is nothing in this world that comes easy. I must stand tall and look forward, to be ever so ready for what still lies ahead. People often feel sorry for those who were born with some type of disability. But their compassion is misplaced. Yes, I may not be able to run as fast or perform certain tasks, but my disability gives me a better look at life and all that's around me. I want to be seen not as a disability but as a person who has, and will continue to, bloom. So I decided to become a advocate on behalf of disabled Americans, to fight for our rights that for so long have been ignored. I feel that it only takes one powerful voice to change the minds of many nations, and as long as I have a mouth to use and a mind to think I will continue to work to bring peace upon the disabled community. Author: Robert Hensel Unrequited I let you go, I give to you your freedom, I burden you with my love no more. Forgotten like a stranger going by Locked out of me, no entrance through this door Pretend I never saw in you a hunger Forget my feet tread light across your floor Ignore my tears, you care not why they fall, I burden you with my love no more. Do not regret one moment that we spent Instead, regret what you let pass you by. Remember me as though I am a ghost, A figment of your mind, a harmless lie. And you are free, for I don't care at all I'm gone and gone is just how I shall stay. No recollections of the way I met you, No clear thought of the way we spent the days So just go on and look right through my body, As though you never knew it in such ways. A look, a tender touch, I'll take those with me I'm gone and gone is just how I shall stay. Waste Of Skin day in day out up and down heart controlling what i'm about i like that. never ending can't find the beginning lost hope is where you'll see me, the bar on the corner, the dive at the end of the street dive taker. emotions twisted ring me out like an old wash rag that could never clean the stain faces stare as i walk by because i'm floating. two feet on the ground ... muttering aloud.. looking to buy a new rag. you really are captivating... clouds can't touch this stars are reaching too high? heaven holds me down the crushing possibility of life, in this circus i claim to be the clown making you laugh is all i know, steadily making it up as i go gone wishing to be found but the lion tamer is not around wasted skin you're letting yourself fall in plunge dive taker are you ready? born, you say. that way, you say. but ... the lion tamer is not around. Copyright 2001 KrystanWikked WHAT IS IT????? I try to suppress you, Deep within me, So that the world does not see you… I' m scared of the world, B' coz im insecure… There are lots friends around me, Friends who share my joy & happiness, Friends who share my agony and pain, My family who are the best gift,I've ever received, Yet u grow day by day,Despite my efforts to suppress you… Why are you within me, Why don't you leave me, I wanna be myself, I don't wanna be a stranger in the mirror, But a reflection of my innerself.. I know you wont leave me, But ive to leave you to move ahead in life… So dear loneliness be prepared coz im gonna leave you forever, I don't need you coz I hav my soul for company.. Author....Unknown Never understand As I Stare At that Starry Sky I wonder how a love Could never die I remember those I see There love growing ever so deep As they embrace that love Knowing that the love I see Will never be For told in a way I can't understand Why does everyone say "A love between two different worlds? You must be insane!" But, knowing that the love I see Will never be It will always be fortold in a way I will never understand. Hope You're There At some point everyone dies Pray that you'll be there to say goodbye Treat everyone with the upmost respect Because you don't know how many days they have left. People of all ages face this ordeal; Sometimes their bodies don't want to heal. Some of us die before we are born, But still for us, our loved ones, they mourn. Death is what ends everyone's life; Be it by age, disease, or knife. There is no way to know when your last day will be; When your last breathe will float out to sea. By: Rachelle Grant Why
Wonder Sometimes I sit and wonder
just where you are right
now.
I wonder what your doing
and if I'm on your mind
somehow.
I wonder if you sit and
wish
wish that I was there.
I wonder if you miss me to
wonder if you still care.
I wish I could forget you
seems a simple thing to
achieve
but the more I try
the more I see
I wish you didn't want to
leave.
But there's no way to change your
mind
you want to be on your own
and you want to be free.
So many other girls want to be with
you
Why would you leave all of
that
just to be with me?
Everyone tells me just to let you
go
that your not worth my tears or my
time
I could probably do better
I know that's true
but I just cant help wishing that you
were mine.
I know there are guys that would treat
me better
and I have every intention to find one
for me.
But then the phone rings
and I know that its you
I picture your face
and your smiles all I see.
I'm so afraid that I never pop into your
mind
scared that you never even think of
me.
All I do is reminisce of when I mattered
to you
but maybe we were just not meant to
be.
The only thing I really know is that
your all I'll ever need
and at the end of the day when I lay
down to sleep
your voice, your kiss are all that
occupy my dreams.
I wish your heart was mine
forever for me to keep.
The hardest part of walking away from
you
is knowing that you wont ever run after
me.
And knowing that while I meant nothing
to you
you meant the whole world to
me.
by: Renee Singletary My job and $ my noose my job and $ my noose i stand on invisible gallows life is not a stage but a mass of people all standing on the gallows to be put to death blind folded and told lied to forced into believing that it's a stage RAGE! and the only audience your original mind leftover peices from society's early slaying and the pieces left everyones they try and form one to be one again a light to shine to burn the gallows down!!! Author Unknown The Spanish Lion A small dust devil scuries across the hot desert floor, and out of it's wavering heat rides a giant of a man, to meet the last charging Moors. His sun lit castillian sword held high, a warning to the Moors, who yet may die. Birds of prey circle aloft and scream their deadly cry, as they wait for the last invading Moor to die. Silence befalls the crimson-battlefield. Feasting upon the unexpected bounty, the scavengers care not why. Hundreds of shield clad Moors lay dead or dying. Their banners no longer flying. Their mounts wandering aimlessly on the desert sand, as the victors steal the gold from the dead Moors' hands. It's the year one thousand, Spain wins the day. Thanks to the mighty El Cid, who fought like a lion to keep the invaders at bay. Jackie R. Kays Copyright...2001 Your Ghost Throughout the half-forgotten haze of cricket song at summer dusk, throughout my half-remembered dreams So many years ago, Your ghost burns brightly through the night - as haze upon the moonlit lake, Throughout the summer cricket song So many years ago. And I who walk the frozen ground feel sunlight burn my frozen ears Watch bony trees forever rattle Singing to the ice. Your ghost appears with every breath Brighter than the freezing sun Quieting the restless trees Singing to the ice. Your ghost at every turn and breath is quieting the restless trees As haze throughout the cricket song of many years ago. Author: Jon Atmosphere of Emotions Just like the weather, emotions are Complex and mixed and can go far. What we do and what we say Might determine the brightness of our day. Let your sun shine through your clouds of despair And your words of life traverse the air. Don’t speak so sorely of your peers. Your words, like clouds, are a storm that nears. A storm of insults with words like rain And comments so rude, they induce pain. Speak so carefully with words so fair That your sunshine you’ll always share. Day to day, our moods always change And like the weather, they have a long range. From days of brightness to days of gray, Our emotions are different and are molded like clay. With the land, the weather changes its shape And sometimes buries it under a drape, Like the mask of emotions that we show. It’s what isn’t seen and what we know That’s the true emotion of how we feel And what we should show should be real. So let your true self show, dark or bright, Cloudy or sunshine, all day and all night. By Marc Fernandez Produced on 3/21/01 WILL I BE READY? Changing dates, New haftoreahs, Getting ready for my bat mitzvah. Will I be ready I think to myself. I am in the car, no music no sounds. Thinking will I be ready? Walking up the stairs. Slowley up the stairs Thinking will I be ready for my bat mitzvah. Practicing for my bat mitzvah With words, with music Singing. I am Singing After the lesson I go into the car I dream of a girl going up on the bema She is nervous with gittering tears in her eyes Thinking the same thing that I have been thinking; Will I be ready. I have an idea To make me feel better. I will be ready-- I think to myself. ~Eliese L. Hard to Believe Hard to believe, after all the hurt and pain the sun still shines after the rain. What about all I put you through, your always there for you know who. It's strange that someone even cares, most of the time it seems like your the only one in the world. Man it is funny, that everyone feels their on their way to heaven, but I think that is what they feel like saying, nobody thinks like I do mysteries thoughts, fighting to get out is what my mind goes through. Just imagine that the trees didn't miss the wind, boy what a terrible shape the ships on the ocean would be in. What if someone couldn't get past heartbreak and in a twinkling of an eye, their own life they needlessly take. by Will Overstreet Shoe Blues No, respect that is what you have. You kick me around,walk me through broken glass,I'm sometimes below your ankle,sometimes above your calf. The blues from you is what I always have. You try being walked on, stepped on all the time, their is no end to how you kick me around. by Will Overstreet Final Eyes I don't understand, why people criticize, because they can't see you in the correct eyes. We fight so hard to despise, but when it's over god has the final eyes. by Will Overstreet A Kingdom and it’s King… I Love Lost There was a kingdom, that stood high and tall But now that kingdom has nothing at all. The once precious life roamed throughout the land But that precious life is buried in sand. A conflict arose which would end all life And conflict arose that stabbed like a knife. The people that lived were caught unaware And people that lived lost their lives unfair. The once tall buildings were built and were born And the once tall buildings are burned and torn. And this kingdom’s King had a broken heart And this kingdom’s King had been torn apart. Then his kingdom’s Queen had left him behind And his kingdom’s Queen became hard to find. The King was alone with no love at all And he was alone with nothing at all. No kingdom with him, the King was alone And no love with him, his Queen to condone. The King’s life renewed and kingdom rebuilt And his life renewed but now on a tilt. His mind was busy with his one true love And he was busy with the One above. He was in conflict between love and life And in that conflict was his only strife. The King could not live with out any one And he could not live every day’s sun. He needed the love that would love him too And needed the love that would love him true. The love he needed must be together And love he needed must last forever. And although that love he never did find The love he needed would be in his mind. His life would go on with no hand in his And he would go on with nothing but this: His kingdom and life were all that he had And his friend’s friendships were not all that bad. And at his life’s end, the King would pass on And at his life’s end he would die at dawn. As the golden sun came over the earth And the golden sun had brought a day’s birth. But with that bright birth brought forth a dark death And with their King gone, the people lost breath. Their King had left them with no one as heir And he had left them with nothing but air. With his dying breath he uttered ten words: “I still love my Queen and let it be heard” II Friends Forever And as the sun rose, eyes began to close And as the sun rose tears wept down the nose. Their king and friend just left them forever And the King and friends were not together. And as their eyes wept, their heads had hung low And as their king left, they had all let go Of their once proud king, who stood high and tall But was now dead and had nothing at all. A Kingdom and its King had lived short lives And while they existed they both had dives. But in his short life the King had done good To his friends he did anything he could To help them out and to give them a hand And to be there for them through out the land. When a friend needed help on a hard task The King would offer before he could ask. And though most of the time they would say “Thanks” Some people were rude and gave only blanks. III Life Lessons Now all that’s in the past and left behind. The Past we learn from and Future we find. The lessons we learn from past history Help us today with future mystery. And the life of the King shall not be lost For he died not in vain and at no cost. Remember his life and think of your own And look back on your life and the threads sewn For a thread of your life is memory And what those people remember of thee And from those threads you are given a past With which you must learn from and then you cast. The lessons of life from one lonely King And a reminder of life’s own being. Let life live on its own and ride with it But slow down and take a look to watch it. Because life is fast and never slows down With moments with which you smile and you frown. Do not let your life end in misery But do let your life end most happily. And let your life from beginning to end Live to help others and message to send That life is precious like the King’s Kingdom And it could crumble and have no freedom. But we can all rebuild and start anew And we can all rebuild with new hopes too. For it’s hope that carries us day to day And its hope that lets us all dream away For a better life in the near future And the hope that it all does not rupture. Live life day to day and not in the past Because tomorrow might just be your last. Please heed my advice to you that I lend And use my advice ‘til your very end. A poem by Marc Fernandez… and a reminder that no matter how long you live, life is short and you should live it to the fullest and enjoy every living,waking moment,because it will never happen again… Pay Me I've sat here for years on end, Sending poetry of various trend. Getting Published wherever I go, But receiving money is defiantly no. Now I'm trying to do my best, And keep up with all the rest. Who tell me there will come a day, For my poetry I'll get PAY. From Caroline Hartley "Now I Understand" O silent heaven O silent man, Where can I find water, In this dry and barren land? That ends this pang of hunger, And quenches this unsatiable thirst, For long I have wearily wondered, But still I struggle on to search. O whispering heaven O whispering man, What are you trying to tell me, I still don’t understand. Please speak a little louder, The world is full of noise, I’ve been searching long for answers, But still I can’t hear your voice. O shouting heaven O shouting man, I can’t do the work, Of a skilled master’s hand. No one sees my efforts, Only you know that I try, How can I serve you any better, But by giving away my life. O consoling heaven O consoling man, I know the life you gave, Was part of a bigger plan. I see the desert as a forest, Abundant with life and wander, The answers have been right before me, Even as I’ve pondered. I see the mountains for the valleys, Because of the depth and height, They have all been directly proportional, To my mountain joys and valley fights. O gracious high heaven O gracious redeeming Lord, You’ve saved me from myself and others, For you have greater things in store. You’ve known all my troubles, And blessed the work of my hands, With peace of mind I turn to you, Because now I understand. Author: Shane Hayes Me Pieces of a puzzle, Each one of us fits in. Do I fit? Pieces Thrown into the sky, Landing on a wave Roll away, Crash and splash... Crystalled as an open Book. Close the pages And file me on the SHELF by K.D. Whitman For more great poetry like this, click here! |