Introduction
These are a collection of my favourite poems which have inspired me and hopefully does the same for you.
Phenomenal woman by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size But when I start to tell them They think I'm telling lies. I say It's in the reach of my arms The span of my hips The stride of my steps The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally Phenomenal woman That's me. |
I walk into a room Just as cool as you please And to a man The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees Then they swarm around me A hive of honey bees. I say It's the fire in my eyes And the flash of my teeth The swing of my waist And the joy in my feet. I'm a woman Phenomenally Phenomenal woman That's me. |
Men themselves have wondered What they see in me They try so much But they can't touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can't see. I say It's in the arch of my back The sun of my smile The ride of my breasts The grace of my style. I'm a woman Phenomenally Phenomenal woman That's me. |
Now you understand Just why my head's not bowed I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say It's in the click of my heels The bend of my hair The palm of my hand The need for my care. 'Cause I'm a woman Phenomenally Phenomenal woman That's me. |
Invictus by William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. |
In the fell clutch of Circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of Chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. |
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find me, unafraid. |
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul |
The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. |
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!” It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children. |
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. |
Monday School Blues by Shai Marchant
I woke up one bright and sunny day
And thought,’ Do I have to go to school today?’ I don’t seem to learn anything new And I seem to be wrong in all that I do. On Monday I played firemen with Cheryl and Clyde And to save the people, they went up the slide Next thing we heard a booming voice say ‘The rule for slides is down , not the other way.’ DUHHH? Tuesday was special and you know why? A magical rainbow appeared in the sky! We rushed for the paints, naming the colours we saw And on the paint cupboard it read ’Choose 3 colours , nothing more.’ DUHHH?? On Wednesday we took out the blocks to play And built towers, bridges and tunnels all day ’ Could we leave our town be, so tomorrow we’ll do more?’ ‘No’ we’re told ,’ We have to clean the floor.’ DUHHH?? |
Thursday was cookery and we learnt about food
We were making fruit salad , food that was good There was only a pear so we started to laugh ‘A fruit cube for each child, that’s plenty enough’ DUHHH?? Then on Friday we put our work on the wall It was tiring but boy did we love doing it all! A voice then whispered ‘ You need to take it down’ ‘The borders can’t be pink, it has to be brown.’ DUHHH?? ‘Mummy , mummy do I really have to go? Everyone will be fine, they won’t miss me I know’. ‘ Get up, get dressed and things will be better You have to go to school, you are the teacher!’ |
Ithaca by Constantine P Cavafy
When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long, full of adventure, full of instruction. The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops, angry Poseidon - do not fear them: such as these you will never find as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare emotion touch your spirit and your body. The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops, angry Poseidon - you will not meet them unless you carry them in your soul, unless your soul raise them up before you. |
Ask that your way be long.
At many a Summer dawn to enter with what gratitude, what joy - ports seen for the first time; to stop at Phoenician trading centres, and to buy good merchandise, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, and sensuous perfumes of every kind, sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can; to visit many Egyptian cities, to gather stores of knowledge from the learned. |
Have Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is what you are destined for. But don't in the least hurry the journey. Better it last for years, so that when you reach the island you are old, rich with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth. Ithaka gave you a splendid journey. Without her you would not have set out. She hasn't anything else to give you. And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you. So wise you have become, of such experience, that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean. |