Poems

Immerse

 

I arrive at swimming

dive in the pool,

a cooling sensation greets me –

so familiar, but it gets better every time.

 

I remember the first time – I cried.

Now the bubbles that rise deliver a message.

 

I rise from under water.

I swim. I leave.

I know tomorrow, I’ll do it again.

 

- Kayla Kerr ( Age 11: Our Lady of the Angels Prep School)

 

 

Mere Suggestions

 

Drink the perfume

If it will make you sweeter, still

 

Paint away your raucousness

And never mind the spills

Clutch courage like a purse

With precious stone

Bite into wisdom

Swallow

Like a hungry dog with bone

 

Dream with eyes wide open

To note what’s passing by

If it’s an opportunity

Surely, cling to it, and fly

 

Relax and listen to the world

In order to transcend

 

No person is an enemy

Although few are truly friends

 

Each daunting task we gladly choose

Before we reach a womb

 

While there is happiness in life

Some may succumb to gloom

 

We can laugh and play and dance

And joke and cheer and rest

All these are priceless treasures

Free as air

I do suggest

 

- Erica Brown Marriott

 

 

Goodbye

 

I will not begin to say “I know your pain

Neither will I tell you not to cry,”

Especially knowing how hard it is to say

Goodbye.

 

When I lost my dear, for years,

I struggled with hurt, bitterness and pain

Was I angry with him or angry with myself?

Or is it because we both didn’t get to say

Goodbye.

 

I role-played the signs over and over

In my head, leading up to the death

Entertaining the blame-game of who

Should have said “Goodbye”

 

So I have learnt to live life, every moment

To love, give, laugh, appreciate and to forgive

Be you. Explore. Let go of fear. Take chances

For in the midst of life there is an ugly-truth

Goodbye

 

- Sheena Wilks