When I was a girl in a poor family
we hung our clothes to dry on the povertyline,
and with it I jumped rope.
My friends saw and joined me.
We were hoping to learn to jump over
endless obstacles and walls...
Our poverty line was generous and plentiful,
it ran from house to house like telephone wiring
made of rich gossip.
......
By the blue taper's trembling light,
No more I waste the wakeful night,
Intent with endless view to pore
The schoolmen and the sages o'er:
Their books from wisdom widely stray,
Or point at best the longest way.
I'll seek a readier path, and go
Where wisdom's surely taught below.
How deep yon azure dyes the sky!
......
Soul of the Poet ! wheresoe'er,
Reclaimed from earth, thy genius plume
Her wings of immortality ;
Suspend thy harp in happier sphere,
And with thine influence illume
The gladness of our jubilee.
And fly like fiends from secret spell,
Discord and Strife, at Burn's name,
Exorcised by his memory ;
......
Up! and arm for life's struggle,
We shall conquer in the fight,
If we arm us for the battle
With the weapons Truth and Right;
Though the world's arrayed against us,
We will shrink not from the strife,
For invincible is duty
On the battlefield of life.
In the vanguard of the battle
......
SINGING my days,
Singing the great achievements of the present,
Singing the strong, light works of engineers,
Our modern wonders, (the antique ponderous Seven outvied,)
In the Old World, the east, the Suez canal,
The New by its mighty railroad spann'd,
The seas inlaid with eloquent, gentle wires,
I sound, to commence, the cry, with thee, O soul,
The Past! the Past! the Past!
......
I was a minister of the gospel, very happily living my life for the Lord,
Preaching the Word every Sunday, in the spirit of affinity and accord.
I always knew that I would preach, for I had been called in my youth,
To perpetually serve the will of God, while forever speaking His truth.
Like the lush gardens of springtime, are all abloom with fresh purpose,
Spreading joy with their presence, in a gold, green ritual that is ageless.
I lived an exceedingly busy life, doing work that was dear to my heart,
......
IT'S ABOUT TIME
Let us talk to the birds visiting us in summer,
Let us talk to the afternoon shadow,
Let us raise our pets to our level,
Let us raise our decibels...
It's about time.
Let us talk to the palarysing heat in the air,
Let us pick our items from the rubbish heap,
......
When I see a small child
Washing dirty crockery,
I wonder aloud is this
All because of poverty?
When I hear a news
About a robbery
I think had he done
All because of poverty?
......
Does society need a push to be made just,
Can we not together find solutions set to last,
Homelessness and poverty rife with shame,
With people given numbers but no name.
Are we so callous, blind and proud
To block our ears from cries so very loud,
Their wants and needs not our concern,
As we shake our heads with gazes stern.
......
Let there be no restrictions
let there be no limitations
for the poor and needy.
For skint if any opportunity arise
let them reap the surprise
just support the weak and weedy.
Under the shadow of poverty
these beings exhibit honesty
......