You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it.
That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies,
that is why you must sing, and dance, and write poems, and suffer,
and understand, for all that is life.
--Krishnamurti
I wanted a perfect ending... Now, I've learned, the hard way,
that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning,
middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change,
taking the moment, and making the best of it, without knowing
what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.
--Gilda Radner
One ought, everyday, to hear a song, read a fine poem, and,
if possible, to speak a few reasonable words
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Stopping by Woods provides a doorway into an understanding of the poet's
great popularity with ordinary readers. Jarrell observes, ordinary readers
think Frost the greatest poet alive, and love some of his best poems almost
as much as they love some of his worst ones. He seems to them a sensible,
tender, humorous poet who knows all about trees and farms and folks in New England.
This view crashes with that of intellectuals, who have neglected or depreciated him:
the reader of Eliot or Auden usually dismisses Frost as something inconsequentially
good that he knew all about long ago.
--Karen L. Kilcup Robert Frost and Feminine Literary Tradition,
University of Michigan Press, 1998:45, 46-47.
The dance is a poem of which each movement is a world.
--Mata Hari
Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations,
the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various
forms which are essential to the work of art or poem.
--Rollo May
Draw a crazy picture Write a nutty poem Sing a mumble-gumble song
Whistle through your comb Do a loony-goony dance 'Cross the kitchen floor
Put something silly in the world That ain't been there before.
--Shel Silverstien
Living With Spina Bifida
I grew up with a birth defect known as spina bifida, a disability
that affects my sense of balance, causing me to walk with a limp.
Not only does it affect the function of the legs, but it also has
an impact on the kidneys, causing them to deteriorate.
The disability has had its ups and downs. As a young child,
I can remember the way other children would look at me and stare because
of the way that I walked. There were many times that my schoolmates would
laugh at me and call me names simply because of their lack of understanding
of why I was a little different, especially back in the mid 70s and early 80s.
Children then were just unwilling to take the time to learn why one of their
classmates might walk, speak or seem noticeably different from themselves.
Now that I am an adult, I have noticed that the stares and names
have begun to fade, and judgments that once were negative have begun
to turn toward acceptance. The signing of the ADA has played a great
part in breaking down some of those barriers that, as a child, left
me to fight a war that seemed to have no end. Now I look beyond what
I can't do and focus on what I CAN. I have learned that limitations
open doors that have been closed, showing other ways to meet our needs.
I have always looked at life as a challenge, grasping each obstacle
with open arms. There is nothing in this world that comes easy.
I must stand tall and look forward, to be ever so ready for what
still lies ahead. People often feel sorry for those who were born
with some type of disability. But their compassion is misplaced.
Yes, I may not be able to run as fast or perform certain tasks,
but my disability gives me a better look at life and all that's around me.
I want to be seen not as a disability but as a person who has, and will
continue to, bloom. So I decided to become a advocate on behalf of
disabled Americans, to fight for our rights that for so long have been ignored.
I feel that it only takes one powerful voice to change the minds of many nations,
and as long as I have a mouth to use and a mind to think I will continue to work
to bring peace upon the disabled community.
Author: Robert M. Hensel, born in Rota, Spain in 1969.
Currently a resident of Oswego, NY, he is an international poet-writer.
On October 1st of 2000, Robert was honored when the mayor of his
home town declared a week for the disabled, "Beyond Limitations Week",
in his name.
"BEYOND LIMITATIONS"
Placing one foot in front of the other, I've climbed to higher lengths.
Reaching beyond my own limitations, to show my inner strength.
No obstacle to hard for this warrior to overcome.
I'm just a man on a mission, to prove my disability hasn't won.
Quote: Hands of time move us foward, never back.
Only Memories frozen in mind, can we reenact.
BY: American Poet: Robert M. Hensel
The skeletons
Who had previously resided in my closet,
Have now taken the form of angels.
The evenings take shape as they float above;
Somewhere between the cold white ceiling
And my own self.
Barely breathing,
But already so dead,
The walls of my essence are bare,
And I've broken all of the mirrors in my heart.
My neighbors have a cat and a telephone,
And even though I "see" someone,
There's no one to talk to
But the kitchen sink.
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