A Victim Of Learning Too Many Lessons
Why is it that it seems,
You express little empathy...
Towards those who are currently,
Suffering from hunger, homelessness.
And a loss of their dignities.
'I began to express that years ago,
When the sight of it would hurt me so.
And I witnessed those with turned up noses.
Pretending what was exposed,
Had been a dilemma others chose.'
But the circumstances today are quite different.
'How and why? '
Those who suffer,
Have lost their homes and valuables.
And images that impressed,
Others in a lesser position...
They never took time to address.
With their empathies expressed.
'And...
Your point is what?
Their suffering done is more effective?
And my empathy given to them,
Should be more reflective? '
But the circumstances today are quite different.
'How and why? '
These people have never experienced,
A life lived like this before.
'Neither had my ancestors.
But guess what? '
What?
'When my ancestors suffered,
They never discriminated by looking away.
And today you can say...
I am a victim of learning too many lessons.
And when I am shown a negligence,
By them expressed...
What am I to do?
Show them I have not been taught by the best? '
But the circumstances today are quite different.
'How and why?
Are these new lessons I have not recognized?
Have those old lessons been changed,
And are now disguised? '
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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More Than Just Coincidences
A tragedy happens.
And reactionaries are quick,
To respond.
The giving done with empathy,
Seems sudden as if a 'light' has been turned on.
And when times are less urgent,
To express our humanity?
A resistence to show a caring with concern,
Is more than expressed by an indifferentness...
We've been taught to satisfy,
With lessons instilled in us...
We obey and learn.
Proving homelessness and hunger,
With racist biases!
Are more than just coincidences,
Enforced to inflict.
By a selfishness persisted.
To advantage and benefit!
Until we become emotionally involved,
With assisted images.
And pictures to cause us to sob!
'I had to see it to believe this for myself!
How can I get more involved?
To end and solve so much pain that remains.'
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Today I Shine
From the struggles of yesterday, today I shine
I have climbed from the ghetto that had me blind.
I was scorned by the curse of black stereotype
But my life has changed and today I shine
Just like the Diamonds of Africa,
Today I shine
I would not look back at my dark past,
Its lessons have taught me a whole new path,
A path though rough, the end is clear
Because my life has changed and today I shine,
Just like the Diamonds of Africa,
Today I shine.
I am stronger today than yesterday,
Because I'm on my feet, not on my knees
I have a voice and I would speak out
Because my life has changed and today I shine,
Just like the Diamonds of Africa,
Today I shine.
I have traded my rags for brand new robes
No more begging or free-loading.
When I walk in the court, you'll hear "All rise! "
That's because my life has changed and today I shine,
Just like the Diamonds of Africa
Today I shine.
Today I am what my ancestors couldn't be
A judge in the court as you all now see,
One thing I know, my conscience is free
I will always hand down a fair penalty.
That's because my life has changed and today I shine
Just like the Diamonds of Africa
Today I shine.
poem by C. Albert Andrews
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Today
There has been a day like today
But a fresh new day is today
It is a unique day today
It is wide open today
All the answers for our questions has today
Let us dream today
Let us laugh today
Let us share our love today
Let us express our greatness today
Let us trade many a yesterday for today
Let us perform our tasks today
Let us make it a magnificent today
Let us thank God for giving life today
Let us thank God for seeing His creations today
Let us love most about today
A golden day is today
For it is a fact today
It has arrived today!
poem by Chandra Thiagarajan
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Today...
Today, the leaves were greener
Today, the sky wasn’t grey
Today, the sun was brighter
Yes, it changed today
Today, people transformed
Today, they weren’t rude
Today, I felt loved
All just today, it’s true
Today, I lived for today
Today, was not for the future
Today, was a great day
Not menial, tiring, brutal
Today, I laughed in silence
Today didn’t make me cry
Today, everything became clearer
But, today, I couldn’t figure out why
And today, if everything changed
And today, if it wasn’t a dream
I don’t know what happened
But today will become everyday, it seems.
poem by Shreya Madhogarhia
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Compassion And Empathy
They have so much in common compassion and empathy
And those who do possess them are blessed 'twould seem to me
For these are rare enough gifts in the Human World of today
Where many are poor and homeless and in life have lost their way
Those with empathy and compassion in words never put others down
And you never will find them amongst the judgemental of the town
They feel for the suffering of others more of their type we do need
For their kindness and generosity of spirit as good people they do succeed
Those with empathy and compassion always helping people in poverty
They help the homeless and the destitute and they help the refugee
If everyone were like them there would not be poverty and crime
And war that cause death and suffering would be of another time
But not everyone is like them which does seem sad to say
So for those with compassion and empathy let us hear the loud hooray.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Without Thinking
I had been asked to give my opinion.
And expressed a reluctance to give it.
When my reluctance offended,
I went ahead to give my opinion...
Without thinking I would be challenged,
To defend it.
Or argue my right to express it.
Especially if requested.
That's why with lessons learned today,
I do not accept request to express my thoughts.
Whether they are solicited or not to convey.
With a keeping of my peace of mind addressed.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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In His Eyes! And Ours
Times then were lived,
Within our means.
We valued being clean.
Respected as expected.
This is what everyone did without neglect.
And embraced hygiene!
This was a fact of life known and seen!
Sold on concepts of a desire to learn.
Wanting to comprehend lessons taught...
That broadened our lives with a competitiveness.
With a fear of limits ignorance welcomed.
And we then wished no part of this.
We sought to grow.
And this assisted with an identity dignity presented.
Times then were lived within our means.
To deceive...
Was then thought to be despicable.
To cheat and lie about it,
Did not excite or sit well...
With those who suffered through the consequences,
Of their ways that dismayed.
Today...
People talk the 'walk' but do not walk the talk.
People say they have good intentions.
But leave no evidence of it seen.
Today...
People talk about their standards and values.
As if this is held in an exclusiveness.
And a membership is required for this to be addressed.
Today...
People are obsessed with their possessions.
Their good credit scores and loans they can obtain.
Because they have maintained status given,
Although they keep blemishes hidden...
That may reveal their tainted names.
And they cheat.
Lie.
And deceive!
With lifestyles lived well above their means.
And yet,
When suspected...
Nothing about them is respected.
Nor do the judgements they pass on others...
Keep tax collectors from locking them out,
From foreclosed homes they bragged about.
OR...
Do they 'today' have the means to feed, protect
Or shelter themselves,
In peace.
Times we lived then,
Were lived within our means.
And we were taught to be grateful.
To feel we were blessed.
And we should express this to God.
On a daily basis kept routined!
Like promises we made to ensure we had good hygiene.
And then God...
And only God,
Will make sure our lives lived were lived right!
In His eyes!
And ours.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Wished In Retrospect
How legitimate can contributions,
Of a poet made can be?
If comparisons are made to another poet,
Who spoke from a time...
When poets expressed themselves,
From a different philosophy...
That occurred in a past be gone history.
I always accepted poetry to be commentaries,
Of that which depicted activities existing.
But there are those who today compare,
A cobbledstoned road of yesteryear...
To a highway today needing constant updating.
Since those who travel on it...
Have mentioned little interest,
Of using a covered horsedrawn wagon!
And most people afraid,
Will always attempt to validate nonsense.
Since this nonsense becomes romanticized...
As a time when exquisite etiquette was expressed,
As wished in retrospect...
By those whose ancestors were highly illiterate.
And lived amongst themselves in a welcomed ignorance.
And some like me are today told...
Our poetry is not European,
Therefore the quality of it...
Will never achieve exquisiteness.
And I sit to compose caring less,
About comments made by those...
Who have chosen themselves,
As images of correctness...
When generations of them,
Have chosen to digress!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Lesson In Love
I'm not proud, I was wrong
and the truth is hard to take
I felt sure we had enough
but our love went overboard
lifeboat lies lost at sea
I've been trying to reach your shore
waves of doubt keep drowning me
All the dreams that we were building
we never fulfilled them
could be better, should be better
for lessons in love
For restless eyes egos burn
and the mold is hard to break
now we've waded in too deep
and love is overboard
heavy hearts token words
all the hopes I ever had
fade like footprints in the sand
All the homes that we were building
we never lived in
could be better, should be better
lessons in love
if we lose the time before us
the future will ignore us
we should use it, we could use it, yeah
Lessons in love
Lost without love...
Lessons in love
When will you ever learn
Lessons in love
When there's nowhere left to turn
Lessons in love
Don't let your spirit burn
Lessons in love
I'll wait 'till you return
All the dreams that we were building
we never fulfilled them
could be better, should be better
for lessons in love
All the homes that we were building
we never lived in
could be better, should be better
lessons in love
if we lose the time before us
the future will ignore us
we should use it, we could use it, yeah
lessons in love
song performed by by Level 42
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Living Under Such Duress
You had been the one to chose,
To ignore the wounds and sores...
Upon others done.
Hunger and homelessness,
Were those things not addressed.
Since you were then not affected.
In fact,
You had expressed...
A disdained for those suppressed.
And living under such duress.
That you are now stressed,
By similar distresses.
Why are your needs more of a priority?
When it has been your selfishness,
And way of life kept...
That has created today's disasterous effects!
And I,
Still affected...
By your decades of unwarranted disrespect,
Am accused of not expressing...
To you an empathy you feel I should direct?
Your delusions have created this mess!
Not mine!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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I Wished Upon My Life Today
I wished upon my life today
I wean upon my life today
I bet upon my life today
I borrowed upon my life today
I feasted upon my life today
I fell upon my life today
I paid upon my life today
I plead upon my life today
I frowned upon my life today
I flew upon my life today
I smoked upon my life today
I shitted upon my life today
I pissed upon my life today
I pass upon my life today
I sneezed upon my life today
I sneaked upon my life today
I asked upon my life today
I ate upon my life today
I wept upon my life today
I won upon my life today.
I prayed upon my life today.
poem by David E. Patton
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Today I Care
At one time I cared less,
About your thoughts.
And how they were expressed.
I was too busy collecting 'things'
Believing they would bring me a happiness.
At one time I perceived,
My needs were different than yours.
I thought of life as a contest...
And doing whatever I could to win,
Regardless of any suffering you did...
Behind 'your' closed doors.
That was a problem 'you' had,
I chose to ignore.
At one time I thought myself better than most,
If I had a college degree.
Afterall, so many didn't!
And I was getting 'mine'...
With very-little-sleep,
Indeed.
Any sacrifice committed I did,
Was done then for selfish reasons.
There was something I wanted to prove.
And selecting those I wished to please.
That is what I then did do!
I had corrupted thoughts.
Brought about by ego.
I had corrupted thoughts.
That would glorify my name.
And I was not above shame!
I had corrupted thoughts.
Not criminal but close.
I had corrupted thoughts I chose...
To drive a nice car and wear fine clothes.
Petty I know.
But I needed then to boast!
At one time I cared less,
About your thoughts.
And how they were expressed.
I was too busy collecting 'things'
Believing they would bring me a happiness.
At one time I perceived,
My needs were different than yours.
I thought of life as a contest...
And doing whatever I could to win,
Regardless of any suffering you did...
Behind 'your' closed doors.
But today I care about you more than ever.
Feeling us connected...
In a 'together' seperateness.
Today I care about you more than ever.
Both of us have been blessed,
Not to live it to impress.
But to be grateful for life as it is!
And that should be expressed.
To leave God to do the rest,
At His best!
At one time I cared less,
About your thoughts.
Your needs and your feelings.
Until I awakened to realize...
They were my own!
And 'that' God has shown.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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(Choices Poem) Circumstances Unending
If you had to choose what would you do
Circumstances unending
A victim of life
A victim of death
A victim of compromises
A heart in pain either way.
To make your world a little more okay
To let the one you love go for the better
Or the happiness of poverty in suffering
Like a mother choosing for a child
you must make the decision out of true love.
Forever the greater good.
The eagle looks upon us all with his eyes.
Only if I could see it that way.
If you had to choose what would you do
Circumstances unending
A victim of life
A victim of death
A victim of compromises
A heart in pain either way.
To make your world a little more okay
When you do such a thing their is no going back
Chasing after something you threw away.
All in a attempt to be the better man.
The homeless playing a game of kick the can.
Nobody ever wins.
It is to pass time as it will always do.
If you had to choose what would you do
Circumstances unending
A victim of life
A victim of death
A victim of compromises
A heart in pain either way.
To make your world a little more okay
Regret and bitter
Feelings that will never sit well with you
Your determined to overcome, and it not be prolonged
She is gone.
Forever a bad choice.
That you wouldn't want to change.
If you had to choose what would you do
Circumstances unending
A victim of life
A victim of death
A victim of compromises
A heart in pain either way.
To make your world a little more okay
The portrait of your face betrays the feeling inside.
The things you try to bury and hide.
At one time you were happy.
At one time you smiling and so full of spirit.
But now you fall into a very empty depression.
If you had to choose what would you do
Circumstances unending
A victim of life
A victim of death
A victim of compromises
A heart in pain either way.
To make your world a little more okay
No one will come and pick you up.
If you fall it will be you last one.
Like a soldier you still march as if you were still on call.
Duty and service is all you've ever known.
And now a world sits before you.
And still your all alone.
If you had to choose what would you do
Circumstances unending
A victim of life
A victim of death
A victim of compromises
A heart in pain either way.
To make your world a little more okay
poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
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There are fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is surely yours is the present, hence this is the time to speak the word of appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others. Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the enrichment of someone less fortunate. Today you can make your life - significant and worthwhile. The present is yours to do with as you will.
quote by Grenville Kleiser
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Hurt Today
I hurt today
When everything matters
I hurt today
But I'm not gone
I hurt today
But I am still here
I still stand stronge
I hurt today
I lost myself again
I hurt today
I am so lonley
I hurt today
I fell to the ground
I hurt today
But today never hurt me
poem by Megan Reily
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Today I Move On
A new start, A new day
Shut the door on behind,
Walk forward in search
Of an inner peace of mind
Leave the anger to yesterday
Along with the pain
Not forgetting the suffering
But to start living again
No judgements, no bias
No prejudice, no spin
Take each person on merit
And the heart that's within
Don't distrust, keep faith
And life will enhance
Don't conclude from the past
But give everyone a chance
All the heartbreak and tears
taught lessons, now gone
Today I look forward
Today I move on!
poem by Vanessa Hughes
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Affirmations(2002-2004)
Today, I will get up before my alarm
Today, I won't close my eyes until dusk
Today, I will not get a speeding ticket
Today, I will count this day as a first
Today, I will enjoy the life that has been left to me
Today, I won't frown over the may-have-beens
Today, I won't cry over the should-have-beens
Today, I won't wonder about the could-have-beens
Today, I'll smile.......Today, I'll Laugh.... Today, I'll relax
Today, I won't feel alone because I don't see you
Today, I'll find something new that wasn't true of you
Today, I won't be afraid to look upon a new face
Today, I'll step up and take my place
Today, I won't think about what I've lost
Today, I'll look forward instead of behind
Today, I'll find some piece of mind
Today, I'll hope.... Today, I'll pray... Today, I'll believe
Today, I'll dream as if I always did
Today, I'll wish on a star the way I used to
Today, I'll reach for the heavens and sigh
Today, My heart will start to heal
Today, the biggest miracle is ME.
Today, Yesterday's problems ceased to be
Today, the rain has stopped and the sun has returned
Today, the breath of kindness is found in words
Today, I wonder.... Today, I am a child.
poem by Lillian B. Rose
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I Am Shaky Today
I AM SHAKY TODAY
I am shaky today-
Why I am not sure
But after all I have been through
And after all I have done
And all I have learned
And all the many times I have gotten through shakiness in the past
I am shaky today
As if all my life and its lessons have been for nothing
And I cannot control a simple mood-
I am shaky today
Like the earth might open up and swallow me forever -
I am shaky –Shaky-
After all these years
I have learned nothing-
I am so so ashamed-
Shaky still now while writing this poem.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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THAT, I Do Know
You see this?
I've been doing it,
Most of my life.
Writing.
I began in the '50's
The nineteen fifties.
With little or no encouragement,
At all that I could see.
OH...
My mom use to buy my sister
And I writing pads and finger painting sets
to keep me from writing on the walls.
And...
I guess a few spankings supplied an incentive!
Now that I remember certain events.
It was my sister Mimmie,
Who discovered I could write poetry.
And she didn't believe me.
People 'assume' I was nourished,
And encouraged by my parents.
I don't think they knew what I did,
To be honest.
I was born 'this creative being'.
With demands I made.
No one 'gave' me a thing,
But a headache.
With a parade of negative comments,
About my exposed interests.
They assigned to being a little effeminate.
But I played ball and stuff like that.
I wasn't hung up on gender!
That is more expressed today,
Than in those days I grew up.
So...
I am quite amazed today,
Especially...
That someone would ask me 'how'
I do 'this' and what they need to know...
To do 'that'?
'Gee, I don't know what to say.
Or how to say anything at all about it.
Uh...you...uh...well? ...I...uh...Gee.'
Sometimes I'm left speechless.
I just know...
If it is something done that is loved,
It will discover a way to express itself.
THAT,
Is what I have discovered over many years,
Of unrelentless devotion.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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It is a New Day
Today is a new day
today is a new life
today, yes today is a special day
it never has occurred before
the sun light cast on today is ancient
the words I will speak will be for the first time, today
The air I breath is new today
the aches are new as well
the feelings are new today
my cats meow is new today
todays lunch I have is new
the thoughts I think are new today
the life I live today is new
indeed today is a new day
poem by Bullion Grey
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