Child of grace• Show poetry

Just a few words about myself. I'm 22 years old and just graduated college with a degree in psychology. I've been writing for what seems like forever. My very first poem was published in a kid's poetry book:

"A leaf is yellow,
A leaf is green,
A leaf is a leaf,
and it's all I've seen."

I think it's safe to say I've come a long way from that poem.

Poetry is my catharsis. I've had a rough couple years and it's really helped me to explore my emotions and cope with things in a more postive way. Though, things have gotten progressively better, I, like everyone else, have my moments of not-so-goodness....*shrugs* but I always hope for the best.

I hope you enjoy the poems I have written and as always, I'd appreciate the comments. I can not learn if I am not taught!

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone the Glory),
Sari


Poems and other writings that have touched my heart throughout the years:

-On Risking-

To laugh is…to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is…to risk being sentimental.
To reach out for another is…to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is…to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is…to risk their loss.
To love is…to risk not being loved in return.
To live is…to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is…to risk failure.

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.

One may avoid suffering and sorrow, but one simply cannot learn…feel…change…grow…love…and in short, live.

Chained by one’s certitudes, one is a slave; one had forfeited freedom.

Only a person who risks is free…
~ Carol Sapin Gold

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From the Mind of a Man who Lived
~Poems by Daniel C. Finkel

Layer after layer
My actions are cemented by time
Making me who I am
As the years pass by.

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Dying has a purpose
As everything else in life
Dying is not for grief
But for learning
So when I die Lord
Let me die for a purpose
So the rest may learn.

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Do you know what happens to fallen stars?
They become wild flowers.
I know this, because when picked
And given to a deserving girl
You can see them twinkle in her eyes.

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A Thousand Marbles

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning
swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles."

I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital." He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a
little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.

Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to roundup 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.

Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.

Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if
I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing
we can all use is a little more time. It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
By Jeffrey Davis


I'm on myspace!!! Check me out at:
http://www.myspace.com/nevaeh_grace