Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 1 September 2005 — Page 31

The Muncie Times • September 1, 2005 • Page 31

POETRY CORNER

Open Doors and Windows, Books and Flowers Open doors and windows, books and flowers. Newly opened gifts of minds and hearts Yearning for the emptiness of oceans On which, in love and hope, you launch your music; Undulating, searching, restless hearts Rendering your ecstasies in music, Eternal hunger sated now with flowers, Now rolling on relentlessly as oceans; Give everything away—all hopes, all music All of yourself cast into tumbling oceans, Go naked in the silence of your hearts, Even as you blossom into flowers. Mouth cannot speak the glory of the oceans Etached against the loveliness of flowers. Nor can you know its fullness but in music Through love, which inundates your waiting hearts. Marques

I Had a Rough Time with Three Kids by Myself I had a rough time with three kids by myself, And I know that I didn’t do well. Counseling, fights, children’s services, courts: What I put you through must have been hell But I love you-all of youall of that time When my heart seemed to break every day, When crushed and crushed and crushed against stones I would that the wind were my way. And I tried-how I tried-to be what you needed

And show you the love in my heart. But often the fantasy crashed and exploded, And all that I was came apart. And now you are grown, I don’t ask forgiveness, Just some understanding will do, Of the person, however imperfect, whose life And whose love was devoted to you. Taylor

Sixteen Sixteen is intent on being lovely. Immersed in the sweet rivers of her day, X-ing out the chubby childhood ways That I must cherish now in memory only. Even as time steals the time away. Each moment is a gift I treasure dearly, Nor would I for my love the time delay. Taylor

Eighteen Eighteen is a windswept borderline: In a moment, gates forever closed. Gulf of dreams behind the vanished child, Halfway round the comer of her smile. The change flaps in the breeze, but in a while Each motion turns to dance, each gesture wild Eventually is placed, positioned, posed: No leaping for sheer joy but by design. Taylor

What I want to Ask of You Is This What I want to ask of you is this, If I can find the nerve to make the leap: Life scatters dreams across the hills of sleep, Lest we be too easy in our bliss. Yet I am aware what I might miss. Only what we treasure can we keep, Ultimately sowing what we reap. Modeling a world upon a kiss. And so I must reveal to you my heart, Recalling all my courage from its rest, Ready for whatever word might be. You are all the object of my quest, My cynosure, in my life, my other part. Each line of this begins my urgent plea.

Taylor

Proverbs of Love Once can be unhappy by oneself Love is harder to accept than to give To love is to embrace life. To love fully Is to embrace both love and death. The secret of happiness is simple: be loving. Giving, caring. Why, then, are so many unhappy? Because they are afraid. Love only yourself, and you are alone. Love only one other, and the two of you are alone. Love only your family, and your family is alone. Love only your nation, and your nation is alone. There can be no communion, not even with yourself,

Clarence Motley and Friends

Except through the love of God Taylor Love Is Far More Various than Race Love is far more various than race It goes much deeper than a person’s skin It reaches to the heart, which is the same In all the human race. It is the name Of a hundred thousand feelings held within, Yearning to be consumed in an embrace. How does one particular embrace Become more intimate than one’s own name? How of all the humans in this race Do we find the one whose spirit is the same? Of course we love to touch our lover’s skin. But what love touches is the soul within. In marriage we must build one home within Two hearts, one world in an embrace. What matters is the will and not the race. The choice to love what lies beneath the skin. In every love the choice is just the same; Without it, love is nothing but a name. How do we make love more than just a name?

How do we not tire of the skin We touch every day? In the race To succeed, how do we keep the embrace .From smothering the passion still within? How do we make our days not all the same? Love is the decision to embrace One body, one soul, one universe, one name, To give up all we are and have within And share the world beneath another’s skin. Once we do, the world is not the same; The love two share enriches the whole race. This is how love intersects with race: Humanity is held in your embrace. Your love will never leave the world the same: When it looks for peace, it calls your name. Do not fear the politics of skin: Choose love each day, and joy will reign within. Within your love is all you need embrace Love caresses skin and values race. Two in name, you are in love the same. Marrques