gift

Favorite Poems

Defeat - Edgar Guest
Untitled - Melinda Marchetta (from 'Looking for Alibrandi')
I am offering this poem - Jimmy Santiago Baca
I wouldn't try to be so perfect - anon
Untitled - from the movie 'Til there was you
A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar A. Poe
Prologue - Edward Field
The Gift of Love - Mother Theresa
Smart - Shel Silverstein
The world is not a pleasant place to be - Nikki Giovanni
Hope - Emily Dickinson
First they came for the Jews - Pastor Neirnoller
Death of an innocent - Anonymous
The road not taken - Robert Frost
Nothing gold can stay - Robert Frost

Defeat - Edgar Guest
No one is beat till he quits,
No one is through till he stops,
No matter how hard Failure hits,
No matter how often he drops,
A fellow's not down till he lies
In the dust and refuses to rise.

Fate can slam him and bang him around,
and batter his frame till he's sore,
But she never can say that he's drowned
While he bobs up serenely for more.
A fellow's not dead till he dies,
Nor beat till no loger he tries.

Untitled - from the book 'Looking for Alibrandi' by Melinda Marchetta
Can you see what I see?
No I don't think you can
I see images of nothing
and I attempt to make that
nothingness mean something
As hard as I try there is
still nothing and that nothing
is meaningless
I am somewhere else now, outside
I am surrounded by people and
the sky. I see the people and the
blueness of the sky
but still nothing has changed
Everything remains the same
I am still alone

I am offering this poem - Jimmy Santiago Baca
i am offering this poem to you,
since I have nothing else to give.
Keep it like a warm coat
when winter comes to cover you,
or like a pair of thick socks
the cold cannot bite through,

I love you,

I have nothing else to give you,
so it is a pot full of yellow corn
to warm your belly in the winter,
it is a scarf for your head, to wear
over your hair, to tie up around yor face,

I love you,

Keep it, treasure this as you would
if you were lost, needing direction,
in the wilderness life becomes when mature;
and in the corner of your drawer,
tucked away like a cabin or hogan
in dense trees, come knocking,
and I will answer, give you directions,
and let you warm youself by this fire,
rest by this fire, and make you feel safe,

I love you,

It's all I have to give,
and all anyone needs to live,
and to go on living inside,
when the world outside
no longer cares if you live or die;
remember,

I love you.

I wouldn't try to be so perfect
Anonymous, The following was written years ago by an 85-year-old man who had learned he was dying.

If I had my life to live over again,
I'd try to make more mistakes next time.
I wouldn't try to be so perfect. We all have perfection fetishes.
What difference does it make if you can let people know
you are imperfect? They can identify with you then.
Nobody can identify with perfection.

I would relax more. I'd be sillier than I've been on this trip.
In fact, I know very few things that I would take so seriously.
I'd be crazier, I'd be less hygienic. I'd take more chances.
I'd climb more mountains. I'd watch more sunsets.

I'd go more places I've never seen.
I'd eat more ice cream and fewer beans.
I'd have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I was one of those people
who lived sensibly and sanely
hour after hour and day after day.
Oh, I've had my moments,
and if I had it to do all over again,
I'd have more of those moments.
In fact, I'd try to have nothing but beautiful moments;
moment by moment by moment.

In case you didn't know it,
that's the stuff life is make of - only moments
Don't miss the now.
I've been one of those people
who never went anywhere withough a thermometer,
a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat and a parachute.

If I had it to do all over again,
I'd travel lighter next time.
If I had it to do all over again,
start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way until later in the fall.
Ride merry-go-rounds,
I'd watch more sunrises,
and I'd play with more children.
If I had it to do all over again...

Untitled - from the movie 'Til there was you
Come in,
I've been expecting you.
there's a knock on the door,
and love walks through.
Lights afire,
smiles smile,
as though love were going to stay awhile.
and the fire breathes,
and weaves its spell,
but then love runs out of lies to tell.
Love is restless,
love's a flirt.
Love has places to go,
and people to hurt.
Here's a shovel
to smother the flame.
tomorrow you'll barely
remember my name.
but I'll try to forget you, my dearest one,
as a person that tries
to forget the sun.
For life holds no purpose,
love holds no charms.
since I beheld you,
in love's arms.

A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar A. Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And in parting from you now,
This much let me avow--
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away
In a night or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a self-tormented shore,
And I hold in my hand
Grains of a golden sand--

How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Thanks for this one Rebecca!

Prologue - Edward Field
Look, friend, at this universe
With its spiral clusters of stars
Flying out all over space
Like bedsprings suddenly busting free;
And in this galaxy, the sun
Fissioning itself away,
Surrounded by planets, prominent in their dignity,

And bits and pieces running wild;
And this middling planet
With a lone moon circling round it.

Look, friend, through the fog of gases at this world
With its skin of earth and rock, water and ice,
With various creature and rooted things;
And up from the bulging waistline
To this land of concrete towers,
Its roads swarming like a hive cut open,
Offshore to this island, long and fish shaped
Its mouth to a metropolis,
And in its belly, this village,
A gathering of families at a crossways,
And in this house, upstairs and through the wide-open door
Of the front bedroom with a window on the world,
Look, friend, at me.
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The Gift of Love - Mother Theresa
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realise it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is costly, care for it.
Life is wealth, keep it.
Life is love, enjoy it.
Life is mystery, know it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it!

Smart - Shel Silverstein
My dad gave me a dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes - I guess he don't know
That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head -
Too proud of me to speak!

The world is not a pleasant place to be - Nikki Giovanni
the world is not a pleasant place
to be without
someone to hold and be held by

a river would stop
its flow if only
a stream were there
to receive it

an ocean would never laugh
if clouds weren't there
to kiss her tears

the world is not
a pleasant place to be without
someone

Hope - Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tunes without the words,
And never stops at all,

The sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That keep so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb from me.
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First they came for the Jews - Pastor Neirnoller
In Germany they first came for the Communists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me
and by that time there was no one left to speak up.

Death of an innocent - Anonymous
I went to a party, Mom, I remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mom, so I drank soda instead
I really felt proud inside, Mom, the way you said I would.
I didn't drink and drive, mom, even though the others said I should.
I know I did the right thing, Mom, I know you are always right.
Now the party is finally ending, Mom, as everyone is driving out of sight.
As I got into my car, Mom, I knew I'd get home in one piece.
Because of the way you raised me, so responsible and sweet.
I started to drive away, Mom, but as I pulled out into the road,
The other car didn't see me, Mom, and hit me like a load.
As I lay there on the pavement, Mom, I hear the policeman say,
The other guy is drunk, Mom, and now I'm the one who will pay.
I'm lying here dying, Mom.. I wish you'd get here soon.
How could this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon.
There is blood all around me, Mom, and most of it is mine.
I hear the medic say, Mom, I'll die in a short time.
I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear I didn't drink.
It was the others, Mom. The others didn't think.
He was probably at the same party as I.
The only difference is, he drank and I will die.
Why do people drink, mom? It can ruin your whole life.
I'm feeling sharp pains right now. Pains just like a knife.
The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, and I don't think it's fair.
I'm lying here dying and all he can do is stare.
Tell my brother not to cry, Mom. Tell Daddy to be brave.
And when I go to heave, Mom, put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave.
Someone should have told him, Mom, not to drink and drive.
If only they had told him mom, I would still be alive.
My breath is getting shorter, Mom. I'm becoming very scared.
Please don't cry for me, Mom. When I needed you, you were always there.
I have one last question, Mom, before I say good bye.
I didn't drink and drive, so why am I the one to die?

The road not taken - Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how ways lead on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Nothing gold can stay - Robert Frost
Natures first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Nothing gold can stay

Thanks for this one Helen!