By popular demand, I have decided to devote this site to the poems I read in class. Don't forget that I have another poem site on the Goodie Bag page, but I'll keep these separate so you can quickly access them, knowing you had them in class. Enjoy. Dr. B-A
Inner Strength - Author Unknown
Love Don't Mean - Eloise Greenfiled
September 11, 2001 - Randy Gold
Do It Anyway! - Mother Teresa
A Creed to Live By – Nancye Sims
No Thank You - Shel Silverstein
Love - Roy Croft
In the Orchard - Muriel Stuart
This is Just to Say & Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams - William Carlos Williams, Kenneth Koch
When Sue Wears Red - Langston Hughes
In the Morning - Paul Laurence Dunbar
Your Children - Kahlil Gibran
A Child's Poem - Unknown
Fuzzy - Unknown
Dawn - Paul Laurence Dunbar
From Father to Son - Rekha Kamath
Let Me Be Your Friend - Anonymous
Attitude – Charles Swindoll
Your Children - Kahlil Gibran
The Phantom Kiss - Paul Laurence Dunbar
Cheryl - Valerie R. Doubilet
Caged Bird - Maya Angelou
What I Want You to Know - Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander
Do the Right Thing - Confucius
Invictus - William Ernest Henley
The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost
Disappointed - Paul Laurence Dunbar
Waiting at the Window - A. A. Milne
Make Your Mark - David Barker
The Last Rose of Summer - Thomas Moore
We Met - Thomas Haynes Bayly
The Prayer of Faith- Hannah More Kohaus
Passing the Test - Patience Strong
If - Paul Laurence Dunbar
Highflight - Lt. John Gillespie Magee
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost
Leisure - William Henry Davies
Fairytales and Fantasies - Samuel P. DeLoach
Love Like an Ocean - Daryl Paul Gaitan
Sonnet 23 - William Shakespeare
Class Ring – Ed Broring
DAD - anonymous student who last his father at age 4
What Have You Done Today? - Nixon Waterman
A Brave and Startling Truth - Maya Angelou
The Lie - Maya Angelou
If You're Ever Going to Love Me - Anonymous
I Miss You Mother - Samuel P. DeLoach
Laugh and the World Laughs With You - Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Hang Tough - Calvin Coolidge
Dream Big - Author Unknown
We Wear the Mask - Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Chase - Paul Laurence Dunbar
Lea/o/ving - Dr. B-A
We Are More Alike Than We Are Unalike - Maya Angelou
Passing the Test - Patience Strong
What It Is - Nikki Giovanni
Myself - Edgar A. Guest
The Cold Within - Douglas C. Cortlett
The Quilting - Paul Laurence Dunbar
Spring Morning - A.A. Milne
What Good - April Sinclair
What I Want You to Know - Dr. B-A
Comes the Dawn - Veronica Shofstall
You Never Know - Helen Lowrie
Little Brown Hands - Mary H. Krout
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Little Brown Hands
They drive home the cows
from the
pasture,
Up through the long, shady lane,
Where the quail whistles loud in the wheat-fields
That are yellow with ripening grain.
They find, in the thick waving grasses,
Where the scarlet-lipped strawberry grows;
They gather the earliest snow-drops,
And the first crimson buds of the rose.
They toss the hay in the
meadow;
They gather the elder bloom white;
They find where the dusky grapes ripen
In the soft tinted October light.
They know where the apples hang ripest,
And are sweeter than
They know where the fuit hangs the thickest
On the long, thorny blackberry vines.
They gather the delicate
seaweeds,
And build tiny castles of sand;
They pick up the beautiful seashells,
Fairy barks that have drifted to land;
They wave from the tall, rocking treetops,
Where the oriole's hammock nest swings,
And at night time are folded in slumber
By a song that a fond mother sings.
Those who toil bravely
are strongest,
The humble and poor become great;
And so, from these brown-handed children
Shall grow mighty rulers of state.
The pen of the author and statesman,
The noble and wise of the land,
The sword, and the chisel, and palette
Shall be held in the little brown hand.
By: Mary H. Krout
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Yesterday was full of terror,
today is
full of rage
Yesterday chins dropped and
tears fell, today
hearts are heavy and tears continue to fall
Yesterday we questioned God and
Country,
today we have no answers
Yesterday we didn't want to
believe, today
we cannot comprehend
Yesterday we gathered in prayer,
today
there are more survivors
Yesterday reminded us of our
frailty,
today reminds us of our humanity
Yesterday we were untouchable,
today we
have been touched
Yesterday heard anguished
screams, today
hears moments of silence
Yesterday buildings crumbled,
today our
resolve is strong
Yesterday we were American
people, today
we are America
Yesterday was unthinkable and
deadly,
today the response is unprecedented and united
Yesterday America's majesty was
tarnished,
today the flag still waives undaunted
Yesterday thousands died, today
is in
their memory
Yesterday was full of terror,
tomorrow is
full of hope
By:
Randy
Gold
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Love
I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.
You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.
By: Roy Croft
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Inner Strength
If you can start the day without
caffeine or
pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches
and
pains,
If you can resist complaining and
boring people
with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day
and be
grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones
are too
busy to give you time,
If you can overlook when people take
things out
on you when, through no fault of yours, something is wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame
without
resentment,
If you can face the world without lies
and
deciet,
If you can conquer tension without
medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of
drugs,
If you can do all these things,
THEN YOU ARE PROBABLY THE FAMILY
DOG........
Author
unknown. Received from Karen Kuttner Covi
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Love Don't Mean
Love don't mean all that kissing
Like on television
Love means Daddy
Saying keep your mamma company
Till I get back
And me doing it
By: Eloise Greenfield, from
"Honey,
I Love"
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Do It Anyway!
People are often unreasonable,
illogical, and
self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you
of
selfish. ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win
some false
friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people
may cheat
you;
Be honest anyway.
What you spend years building, someone
could
destroy overnight;
Build it anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be
jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will
forget
tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and
it may
never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got
anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is
between
you and God;
It was never between you and them
anyway.
By:
Mother
Teresa
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In the Orchard
'I thought you loved me.' 'No, it was only fun.'
'When we stood there, closer than all?' 'Well, the harvest moon
Was shining and queer in your hair, and it turned my head.'
'That made you?' 'Yes.' 'Just the moon and the light it made
Under the tree?' 'Well, your mouth, too.' 'Yes, my mouth?'
'And the quiet there that sang like the drum in the booth.
You shouldn't have danced like that.' 'Like what?' 'So close,
With your head turned up, and the flower in your hair, a rose
That smelt all warm.' 'I loved you. I thought you knew
I wouldn't have danced like that with any but you.'
'I didn't know. I thought you knew it was fun.'
'I thought it was love you meant.' 'Well, it's done.' 'Yes, it's done.
I've seen boys stone a blackbird, and watched them drown
A kitten. . . it clawed at the reeds, and they pushed it down
Into the pool while it screamed. Is that fun, too?'
'Well, boys are like that . . . Your brothers. . ' 'Yes, I know.
But you, so lovely and strong! Not you! Not you!'
'They don't understand it's cruel. It's only a game.'
'And are girls fun, too?' 'No, still in a way it's the same.
It's queer and lovely to have a girl . . .' 'Go on.'
'It makes you mad for a bit to feel she's your own,
And you laugh and kiss her, and maybe you give her a ring,
but it's only in fun.' 'But I gave you everything.'
'Well, you shouldn't have done it. You know what a fellow thinks
When a girl does that.' 'Yes, he talks of her over his drinks
And calls her a---' 'Stop that now. I thought you knew.'
'But it wasn't with anyone else. It was only you.'
'How did I know? I thought you wanted it too.
I thought you were like the rest. Well, what's to be done?'
'To be done?' 'Is it all right?' 'Yes.' 'Sure?' 'Yes, but why?'
'I don't know. I thought you were going to cry.
You said you had something to tell me.' 'Yes, I know.
It wasn't anything really . . . I think I'll go.'
'Yes, it's late. There's thunder about, a drop of rain
Fell on my hand in the dark. I'll see you again
At the dance next week. You're sure that everything's right?'
'Yes,' 'Well, I'll be going.' 'Kiss me...' 'Good night.' ...'Good night.'
By: Muriel Stuart
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When Susanna Jones wears red
her face is like an ancient cameo
Turned brown by the ages.
Come with a blast of trumphets, Jesus!
When Susanna Jones wears red
A queen from some time-dead Egyptian night
Walks once again.
Blow trumphets, Jesus!
And the beauty of Susanna Jones in red
Burns in my heart a love-fire sharp like a pain.
Sweet silver trumphets, Jesus!
By: Langston Hughes
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'Lias! 'Lias! Bless de Lawd!
Don' you know de day's erbroad?
Ef you don' git up, you scamp,
Dey'll be trouble in dis camp.
T'ink I gwine to let you sleep
W'ile I meks yo' boa'd an' keep?
Dat's a putty howdy-do--
Don' you hyeah me, 'Lias--you?
Bet ef I come crost dis flo'
You won' fin' no time to sno'.
Daylight all a-shinin' in
W'ile you sleep--w'y hit's a sin!
Ain't de can'le-light enough
to bu'n out widout a snuff,
But you go de mo'nin' thoo
Bu'nin' up de daylight too?
'Lias, don' you hyeah me call?
No use tu'nin' to'ds de wall;
I kin hyeah dat mattus squeak;
Don' you hyeah me w'en I speak?
Dis hyeah clock done struck off six--
Ca'line, bring me dem ah sticks!
Oh, you down, suh; huh! you down--
Look hyeah, don' you daih to frown.
Ma'ch yo'se'f an' wash yo' face,
Don' you splattah all de place:
I got somep'n else to do,
'Sides jes' cleaning' aftah you.
Tek dat comb an' fix yo' haid--
Looks jes' lak a feddah baid.
Look hyeah, boy, I let you see
You sha'n't roll yo' eyes at me.
Come hyeah; bring me dat ah strap!
Boy, I'll whup you 'twell you drap;
You done felt yo'sef too strong,
An' you sholy got me wrong.
Set down at dat table thaih;
Jes you whimpah ef you daih!
Evah mo'nin' on dis place,
Seem lak I mus' lose my grace.
Fol' yo' han's an' bow yo' haid--
Wait ontwell de blessin' 's said;
"Lawd, have mussy on ouah souls--
(Don' you daih to tech dem rolls--)
"Bless de food we gwine to eat--
(You set still--I see yo' feet;
You jes' try dat trick agin!)
"Gin us peace an' joy. Amen!"
By: Paul Laurence Dunbar
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I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
By: William Carlos Williams
Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams
1
I chopped down the house that you had been saving to live in next summer.
I am sorry, but it was morning, and I had nothing to do
and its wooden beams were so inviting.
2
We laughed at the hollyhocks together
And then I sprayed them with lye.
Forgive me. I simply do not know what I am doing.
3
I gave away the money that you had been saving to live on for the next ten years.
The man who asked for it was shabby
and the firm March wind on the porch was so juicy and cold.
4
Last evening we went dancing and I broke your leg.
Forgive me. I was clumsy, and
I wanted you here in the wards, where I am the doctor!
By: Kenneth Koch
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To everyone a gift is given and a problem set.
There's a mission to fulfill, a challenge to be met...
A special work to carry out that no one else can do--
A task to be accomplished, and to this we must be true.
Do not envy anyone because they seem to be--
Lucky, happy, and content, from care and worry free...
Everybody is on trial in their appointed sphere-
A smiling face may mask an ugly scar, a secret fear.
Covet nothing, envy none, for all have things to bear
Everything is balanced, God is good and life is fair...
Who has had the worst of it and who has had the best--
None can say, for each must pass his individual test.
By: Patience Strong
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if it's a trail we can hike it
if it has two wheels we can bike it
if it's an allergy we can sneeze it
if it's a pimple we can squeeze it
if it's dew it "covers
if it's Tinker Bell it's a pixie
if it's a breeze it can blow us
if it's the sun it can know us
if it's a song we can sing it
it if flies we can wing it
if it's soda pop then it's drinkable
it might be X-Rated but that's unthinkable
if it's a boat we can sail it
if it's a letter we can mail it
if it's a star we can let it shine
if it's the moon it can make you mine
if it's grass we can rake it
if it's free why not take it
if it's a tide it can ebb
if it's a spider it can web
if it's chocolate we can dip it
if it's a golf ball we can chip it
if it's gum we can chew it
I hope it's love so we can do it
By: Nikki Giovanni
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I have to live with myself, and so
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able, as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don't want to stand, with the setting sun,
And hate myself for the things I have done.
I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myslef,
And fool myself, as I come and go,
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of man I really am:
I don't want to dress myself up in sham.
I want to go out with my head erect,
I want to deserve all men's respect;
But here in the struggle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't want to look at myself and know
That I'm a bluster and bluff and empty show.
I can never hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself, and so.
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.
By: Edgar A. Guest
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Six humans trapped by happenstance
In black and bitter cold
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
The first woman held hers back
For on the faces around the fire
She noticed one was black.
The next man looking cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And couldn't bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain,
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death's still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn't die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.
By: Author Unknown
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Dolly sits a-quilting by her mother, stitch by stitch,
Gracious, how my pulses throub, how my fingers itch.
While I note her dainty waist, and her slender hand,
As she matches this and that, she stitches strand by strand.
And I long to tell her Life's a quilt and I'm a patch;
Love will do the stitching if she'll only be my match.
By: Paul Laurence Dunbar
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What good is a flower if it can't bloom?
What good is expansion if you have no room?
What good is a twig, if it can't sprout?
What good is a voice, if it can't shout?
What good is life, if you can't be free?
What good am I, if I can't be me?
By: April Sinclair, from her book, Coffee Will Make You Black
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