Today I chose the poem Do Not Make Things Too Easy by Martha Baird for my model. It took an unexpected turn and I’m looking forward to coming back and working it into even more of an anthem. I really encourage people to give this a try. I’m not spending more than half an hour on these first drafts. These are just emotional dumps from me after I read the model poem. Then later I will have fun with polishing them in the revision stage. It’s very freeing to know that these are quick drafts and don’t have to be perfect.
Here’s my first draft.
Do Not Tell Me I Cannot
Do not tell me
I cannot climb mountains you can’t see
I can be
anything
my mind conceives.
Do not tell me
you do not believe in me
I can be
so much more
than you imagine.
I am sick of dishonesty
believe me
I can be
true north on my own
alone
I want dreams to be met by dreams
If I am amazing, and trust me, I am amazing,
Do not tell me you are surprised.
Susan Taylor Brown
Wow-that final line is sad, & I know this could be speaking to anyone, relative like husband or parent, friend, teacher, employer, from a teen’s view, etc. Great stuff, Susan. It’s like the opposite of an apology poem.
Thanks, Linda. Well, sad was better, I figured, than really ticked off. 🙂 I felt empowered when I finished it, like I had just dumped a bunch of toxic people out of my life.
LIFE IS A CHALLENGE
Life is a challenge
It is always that way
I have two choices
The easy or the hard
The easy way would be
To lock myself away
Never face anything
Just my own world
0f loneliness
The other is to fight
Never give up
Challenge myself
Meet life head on
Keep the good
Throw back the bad
It should be
Could be
That simple
I need to be realistic
Know my limitations
To Live MY life
to the fullest
Do everything I need to do
Want to do
Those things
That make me happy
Without hesitation
Keep moving forward
Never turn back
What is gone is past
Look to the future
Believe in myself
Love unconditionally
Attract great things
The challenge in fact is to
Accept them
– Anne McKenna
Another good one for you to tape around the house to remind you of all you are truly capable of doing, being, Anne.