Other People's Poetry
These poems are works that I have always enjoyed. I call them "other people poem";
Jamaican slang for "poetry belonging to persons other than myself". They actually
serve as my inspiration; for my poems, my life, my beliefs (which you can read about
in my Ponderings)... I hope you can enjoy these works
as much as I do.
Risks
A Creed To Live By
Desiderata
If
RISKS
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool;
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental;
To reach out for another is to risk involvement;
To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self;
To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is risk their loss;
To love is to risk not being loved in return;
To live is risk dying;
To hope is to risk despair;
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing;
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing;
The y may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, love, live;
Chained by their attitudes, they are slaves, they have forfeited their freedom;
Only a person who risks is free!
Author: Anonymous
Top
A CREED TO LIVE BY
Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Don't set your goals by what others deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.
Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living
in the past or for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.
Don't give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.
It is the fragile thread that binds us to each other.
Don't be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Don't shun love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love;
the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;
and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Don't dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope;
to be without hope is to be without purpose...
Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been,
but also where you're going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
Author: Nancye Sims
Top
DESIDERATA
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember
what peace there way be in silence. As far as possible
without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to
others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their
story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are
vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with
others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there
will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy
your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however be
humble; it is a real possession in the changing of fortunes of
time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the
world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to
what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all
aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully
surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of
spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not
distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born
of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less then the
trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And
wether not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is
unfolding as it should
With all it's shame, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is
still a beautiful world. be careful. strive to be happy.
-found in Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore; Dated 1692.
Top
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of the pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
Top
Slow Dance
Have you ever watched kids on a mery-go-round,
Or listened to rain slapping the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
Or gazed at the sun fading into the night?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.
Do you run through each day on the fly,
When you ask "how are you?", do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
With the next hundred chores running through your head?
Ever told your child, we'll do it tommorrow,
And in your haste not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die,
'cause you never had time to call and say "hi"?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere,
You miss half the fun of getting there,
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It's like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race, so take it slower,
Hear the music before the song is over.
Youe better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short the music won't last.
Footnote: If you know the names of the authors of these works, please feel
free to
drop me a line so I can place the credits to the respective works.
