Finishing Strong

…………..A new Dawn

The year 2008 slowly draws to a close
As things wrap up, another book has been written
And the final chapter is about to end.
Looking back on the memories and events,
There will be smiles and sighs
We all have something to celebrate and something to improve on.

Looking through my album
I am taken adrift
There’s Yemisi in her dazzling white wedding gown
Unfortunately that picture became smeared with tear drops.
She painfully carries the remains of a marriage that didn’t happen

That’s just one story from the album of 2008
How about when Obi was avoided like a plague by all the employers
Or when Mrs Jacobs was left to pick up the pieces of her broken home
Never in my life, had I thought life could be so unfair!

In spite of all this, nothing eludes the Master’s touch.
Absolutely nothing!
2009 marks a new beginning
An opportunity for new life, new success and new joy to burst forth
It’s a chance to take another stab at life and rewrite your story
Let your willingness to be free from pain and sorrow soar high

The past is the past but the future begins now
Be refreshed with strength from above
Let God help you compensate for the wasted time.
Start a new leaf with God, no more bench-warming
Take a step and be involved in the kingdom
Let all believers spice up the world around them;
Let your light shine for others to followlife is only as difficult as you make it to bewhy worry when you can pray?
Forge ahead, finish strong and break through into the new year.
It’s a new dawn, a new page and a new story.

© The poets voice~~~ December 2008, All rights reserved.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history.
With your bitter, twisted lies.
You may trod me in the very dirt.
But still, like dust, I'll rise.


Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells,
Pumping in my living room.




Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides.
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.



Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard.
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines,
Diggin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness.
But still, like air, I'll rise.




Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise,
That I dance like I've got diamonds,
At the meeting of my thighs?




Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise


I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise


Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise


I rise


I rise.



By Maya Angelou







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This poem really inspired me when I read it. It talks about having self confidence and knowing that no matter how much dirt life shoves on you, be confident that you will RISE!



Enjoy...



© The poets voice~~~ December 2008, All rights reserved.