MOTHER JAMES’ POEM

To Doris James

I know someone who cares

I know someone who’ll listen

I know someone who’s blessed

I know someone who brightens the day

I know someone who’ll be there in time of need

I know someone who fellowships with other saints

I know someone who supports her family

I know someone who has time for me

I know someone who LOVES GOD

I know someone who LOVES JESUS

I know someone who LOVES THE HOLY SPIRIT

Her name is Doris James

Spiritually watching over all with whom she comes in contact.  Always showing the love that’s in her heart. 

GOD’S with you Mother James

JESUS will always be by your side

And the HOLY SPIRIT will comfort you

While you travel through this life span

Mother James you’re my Spiritual Leader

Mother James I’m praying for you

Mother James I’ll ALWAYS LOVE YOU !!!

SOLDIER ON THE BATTLEFIELD

To: Pastor Bill

One day GOD called

Mary Ann Martin Johnson

to work on the battlefield

at McKinley Brighton Park

She had gotten sick and looked up to heaven

from which had cometh her help

Her help cometh from the LORD

She called, “GOD, I NEED

a David to slew Goliath”

She turned around

and Pastor Bill

was coming and asking Could

he help in any way?

GOD knows our needs, even before

we have the need

THANK YOU

PASTOR BILL

FOR BEING A SOLDIER

ON THE BATTLEFIELD

YOU’RE A FAITHFUL WORKER

FRIENDS FOREVER

To: Veronica

May 10, 2001

Veronica, we went to school together.

Now we’re working on the same

goals together.

I’m glad that you were there

for me to talk about

women problems that I’m having.

Now with this newfound outlook

I feel a lot better.

My operation

Veronica, your kind words and

your support, will make

this experience easier to handle.

I always tell my three children

to be nice to people.

Veronica, you’re living proof that

you will be seeing people from

one’s past in the near future.

I’m glad you were my friend

then, and still a wonderful

FRIEND NOW!!!

I MISS YOU

To: Althea

I kept running into you, Althea

time and time again

Until graduation day, we became

best of friends

Making plans to have a world of fun

driving around spilling champagne

on everything and everyone

That night friends drank and danced

until we got silly

Oh-oh what a night of romance

What happened!!!"

Althea, we started yelling and screaming

at each other

How can we go back and see the

smiles on each of our faces

again?  Pain throbs within my heart

Sometimes, I look out my window:

Maybe she'll come by today

and we might play cards

Sometimes, I look at the telephone:

Maybe she'll call me (I forgot, I've got

a new number) I want to call her

How can we undo the scenes

that caused our separation?

I must admit, I miss you

I miss you, I miss you

Althea, you're in my heart still

AS MY BEST FRIEND!!!

 SILENTLY WAITING

 Sitting, sipping on hot tea, thinking thoughts deep in one’s mind

I don’t have a job, but I’m silently looking for something to do

With pen in hand and paper in front of me, I go over future possibilities

Visualizing a better day, learning to make do with time on one’s hands

Trying to not cry like a baby, while thinking happy thoughts

Silently Waiting

Silently Waiting

Looking out the window at cars passing by. I once had a job.  I remember driving fast to be on time for work.  So busy, doing several jobs, any job, and not one of them busy being committed to me.  Now sitting home, floating my eyes across the room walls.  Cleaning the house from top to bottom, finding things that were considered lost for good.  The phone never rings when you want it to.  No one comes over when you really want company

Silently Waiting

Silently Waiting

Why are most people impatient to wait on anything.  We have instant coffee; microwave just about all our food.  We go to restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Funny, our best meals came from home cooking that was prepared and cooked very slowly until the seasoning flavors united with the food items.  When you get something fast, it’s not appreciated as much as if one takes time to savor it.  I choose to wait on the lord for my change.

 I’M SILENTLY WAITING FOR GOD!!!

A MOTHER’S PRECIOUS HEART

To: Mrs. Angela

 Angela, I see the love, that

you have for your children

David * Angela * Elizabeth

Your husband, Pastor Bill, and

you, Angela, are your children’s

SPIRITUAL GUIDES

Sometimes, a Mother’s heart gets broken

God’s got healing in his wings

It is written and it still applies today

Ask, and it shall be given you

Seek, and ye shall find

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you

Ask: GOD for his divine healing

Seek: The comforter

Knock: On the door of God’s heart

He is able

As humans we don’t sometimes understand

that what we lose down here on earth

GOD finds it in his loving hands

God’s precious gift is LIFE

Enjoy and sing holy praises for

David * Angela * Elizabeth

ANGELA

YOU’VE, STILL GOT

A HOUSEFUL OF JOY

“HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!”

If you find yourself going in the

wrong direction

Finding out you don’t know

where you’ve been

You’re Lost

If you’re confused about the reason

you started out on your journey

And your travel direction changes

every four hours

You’re Lost

Surrounded by people, but don’t

know anyone’s name.  Can’t

trust your surroundings

You’re Lost

It can be bright and sunny outside but

inside your own mind dark and haunting

Your reality of one’s self

fades in and out

You’re  Truly Lost

LOST

LOST

LOST!!!

FOUND

Problems overwhelm me

I find myself

searching to talk about my troubles

I’m Found

Conversation starts out slow then gets

to the core of one’s self

Free my focus of stress to

one of release

I’m Found

Hobbies help one stay focused

Doing activities that bring out

one’s talents.  Accents on

things you can control, not on

things you can’t control

I’m Found

The only way to not get lost

is to stay in touch with one’s

true feelings.  Don’t let

pressures of this life pile up

until you feel you’re going to explode

STAY FOUND

FOUND

FOUND

FOUND!!!

CREDIT

 Darkness closing in all around me.

Remembrance of the stroke of the pen.

I envision the cold bars that slam before me.

My freedom taken away; I now belong to the

State.

Credit was meant for the rich

I'm the poor

Credit - Credit - Credit

I've tried to make it to the end of the week

I want to eat, but my stomach is twisting in knots

I'm right, but society says I'm wrong

I lay down and scenes run though my head

Credit was meant for the rich

I'm the poor

Credit - Credit - Credit

Anyone coming to our country has a line of

credit, but for me, a black person, no credit; credit

for me doesn't exist.  I can't write another check

until the money's in my account.  Reality: I don't

want to go to jail for a bounced check!!!

Credit was meant for the rich

I'm the poor

Credit - Credit - Credit

CRY

 Sometimes you feel so sad - CRY

Sometimes words can't express how you

truly feel - CRY

When you have an explosion of emotions - CRY

Body water runnin' down

Body water, run your way down

CRY - CRY - CRY

Can't listen to words spinning in your

head - CRY

Body heated to an all time high - CRY

Problems are bigger then what they seem - CRY

Body water runnin' down

Body water, run your way down

CRY - CRY - CRY

Body releasing all its hidden pains - CRY

Renewing of one’s mind - CRY

Slowly feeling better when you - CRY

Body water runnin' down, Body water, run your way down

NO MORE BODY WATER

SO YOU CAN'T

CRY - CRY - CRY

WORD FREEDOM

 Floating for a life span

Words to no end, just

floating around in a

dark whirlwind.

Words

Floating words

I'm trying to

get them out

My words,  my words

I can't get them to come out

Make my suffering known

to the world of people

who walk around with their

uncaring faces and their

“The world is mine

attitude”

Words

Floating words

I'm trying to

get  them out

My words, my words

Alas, reality - While reading

Others’ work, I've realized

it starts with the first painful

emotional word.  How I feel

And now I feel better

for I'm writing

Words

Floating words

I'm getting them

out one word

at a time

MY WORDS, MY WORDS

ARE COMING

OUT!!!

ONE FOR THE ROAD

 ONE cup of liquor - Ah, the taste divine

ONE more cup - happily looking around, smiling at all the lonely people

ONE more cup - shake – shake – shake dance the night away

ONE  more cup - your money’s almost Gone

ONE for the road

ONE more for the road

ONE last one for the road

Ah, I can’t even see the road

FOUND-DEAD-ON

THE ROAD!!!

OLD TIME STORIES

 I used to sit quietly on the side by the wall in the kitchen as my mother and her mother sipped coffee and talked of old times.  To the average listener, it may have seemed like dull conversation.  But to me, I heard family togetherness, deep love and commitment.  How it was being a black woman in the ‘30s and ‘40s.  How the husbands ruled and controlled every avenue of the black family life.  How the black woman longed to have rights within her home.  Secretly, talking on how to achieve one’s goals without getting smacked across the head.

Yes, I sat quietly and listened

Yes, I sat quietly and listened

Granddad, who was my mother’s father used to tell me about his family life.  All the chores he had to do before school, then again after school.  The games they played when he was little.  Rules one had to follow because he was a black man, living in a country ruled by white people.  How he felt with all that was placed on his shoulders after his father died.  He told me about how he had to work long hours.  It made my grandfather a better father and grandfather.  I remember every facial expression that he made while talking and drinking his black coffee.

Yes, I sat quietly and listened

Yes, I sat quietly and listened

Now, I go to all the elders of the family, asking questions like, “What’s your mother’s mother name? Where did she live? Did they live in their own house? What did they do for a living?”  I look deep into their eyes, clinging to each and every word.  I notice the joy and the many sorrows that the past years have done.  Past family members live again in words told with truth and strength.  I picture each family member’s face in my mind, they live again in stories.

YES, I SAT QUIETLY AND LISTENED, AND I REMEMBER

ALL THE OLD STORIES

NO MORE PETS

 We found a cute little kitten in our backyard.  Gave it

a little mouse toys, and then we left the house; cat waste

all over the floor.  She had eight kittens, kittens galore,

no one would take them, our house was full.  In a year,

when they started to mate, they left on their own out

the front gate never to come back home anymore.

So, then we bought a cute little puppy dog.  We played

fetch and roll over and even come here.  He grew so big; no one would come over anymore.  We fed him

day and night, until one night he ran away.  We put a

poster up – Not to get him back, but just to notify the

new owner, “GOOD LUCK JACK” AND NEVER

BRING HIM BACK!!!

So, then we bought a big fish tank.  Filled it with

every kind of fish known to man.  One by one, we flushed

them down an endless drain.  I think we’ve learned

our lesson, and from now on we’ve decided,

PLANT LOVERS

NO MORE PETS!!!