Trolley Rides

Reflections

This photo was taken at Shelton State Community College located in Tuscaloosa, Al

Behind These Eyes

Behind These Eyes is a lot of hurt,
a lot of pain
a lot of guilt
a lot of shame.
Brokenness need mended
Before the journey is ended
Revival, LORD send it!
These tear stained eyes
Once blinded by lies, deception, and longing
Washed in your goodness
My heart that you’re holding
These eyes tell a story that none can see
A little girl lost and lonely, that’s me
Beauty from ashes unburned by the fire
Jesus, Lord Jesus my only desire!
To see you, to know you, to love you
I do.
Cover me, hold me, and shelter me I pray
From the storms of life that cause me dismay.
Lift me high above on eagle’s wings
To a place where heavenly angels sing
Look Behind These Eyes
and you’ll find there’s more
Than what’s on the surface
Hopes dashed to the floor
Still there’s a light that shines through an open door
Brighter than any light I’ve seen before.
It stills the waves that crash to the shore
And dawns the darkness forevermore.

elementsofvirtuecollection@gmail.com

Nobody’s Home

Ain’t you tireds of knockin’?
Knockin’ on doors unopened, shut,
slammed in yo’face
Gettin’ kicked in the butt?
Rollin’roud in the mud ’cause you been in a rutt?

It’s been far too long!
A long time comin’
Rockin’ back and forth
repeatin’ this tune I been hummin’

Nobody’s home!
So the knockers keep knockin’
And the do’bell keep ringin’
The whistle blowers blow
And the mailman keep singin’

I can hear a big dog’a barkin’ up yonders street
He betta not come near me
lessen he lose summa his teeth.
He run through the back yard
But nobody’s home
To say “Get out my yard, you bag’a bones”!

Strays gone astray
Not a hungry meal in sight
But even a dog gotta eat
So come hear ye’ole stinker
I’ll treat’cha alright
Here, here’s a bite for you to eat
When nobody’s home to give you a treat.

elementsofvirtuecollection@gmail.com

Battlefield

I’m fighting for a cause!

I’m fighting for a cause because very few are willing to stand on the truth!

Many claim to want to get to heaven but could care less about their life or the lifestyle they’re living

And are more concerned with how much they can receive rather than lending a hand in giving.

My cause is evident every time I walk outside

Though inner fear and sadness I try to hide just so I can make someone else’s day with a smile and that makes it all worthwhile

As I continue to breathe in, I breathe out

Self doubt

That clouds my mind daily but can you see it? No! Because I’m fighting for a cause!

I’m fighting for a cause because I know the depth of life’s daily struggles!

I’m fighting for a cause because my sisters young and old need to be taught to use their body as something other than a playground do I’m taking a stand!

No man!

We cannot get down with the get down on the bed, on the sofa, on the table, or on the ground unless a kiss is sealed with marital bliss.

And giving you my digits does not mean you can afford husband privileges because

I AM PRICELESS!

My milkshake may bring all the boys to yard but that does not mean every Mike, Joe, Thomas and James can take a spin on this merry-go-round

So, my sisters, know that you far outweigh the value of silver and gold

And like the stories being told by our ancestors who stood so bold

in the days of old

we are queens of royalty, destined for greatness everlasting for generations to come

with sweetness of the sound of old negro spirituals being hummed

But can you hear it?

Don’t let the songs be sung in vain!

Stand on these words because out of my mouth I speak the truth so I’m using it as something other than a trash can

So that my voice will travel to distant lands

And proclaim victory over everyone who believes that little boys and little girls growing up in the projects are hopeless.

Know this: God is the hope that breathes treasure into worthlessness and hope into hopelessness!

And I’m fighting for a cause because as I walk the streets alone

I can hear the silent cries of children abandoned in their homes

That are supposed to be filled with love

And I pray a ray of hope into their soul so they’ll know that their lives are not as hopeless as some make them out to be

Offering myself as a sacrifice so that I may someday lead those who may look up to me

Teaching the words that our forefathers taught

That WE SHALL OVERCOME!

I thank God that someone was bold enough to visualize a dream that many could not conceive

And tell my young brothers and sisters that they, too, can have a dream.

So dream on dreamer!

And don’t let the struggles of life stand in the way.

Don’t worry about the hate that the ney sayers preach!

Know that every dream you dream is within your reach!

So grab hold of it and don’t let go

Keep on pressing whether you’re moving fast or slow

And this is the stance I take whether in a crowd or standing alone

But to anyone who hears the voice behind the words, get on board and let’s go!

Phenomenal Woman, Too: dedicated to the late, Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014)

Blessed in my joys, blessed in my sorrows;

Blessed in today and blessed in tomorrow;

Blessed in my tears, blessed in my groaning;

Blessed until there is no more longing;

Blessed with hope and blessed with peace;

My blessings never cease, they only increase!

Blessed in my walk and blessed in my talk,

Seeds planted growing like beans into stalks!

Blessed when happy and blessed when sad,

Blessed to be still even when mad.

How do I know I’m blessed?

Because even when circumstances beyond my control continue to come my way

I am blessed to know that they, too, shall pass; they’ll never stay

And more blessings, more blessings are on the way!

And even when beaten, mistreated and scorned

I am never alone; NO, never forlorn!

So I walk away meekly with a praise on my tongue,

Joy in my heart transformed into song!

So when the nights seem long and the days seem blue

I am blessed in knowing that I, just like you, am a Phenomenal Woman, too!

Elementsofvirtuecollection@gmail.com

Elementsofvirtuecollection.wordpress.com

Thankful

When I opened up my heart to you and let you inside

You took my brokenness and mended me and humbled my pride.

And when I searched for you, you gave me vision within

And now I’m strong enough to love again.

That’s why I serve you; with my whole heart.

That’s why I love you; nothing will tear us apart.

That’s why I praise you; you’ve given me a brand new start

And that’s why I’m, I’m thankful.

And that’s why I’m, I’m thankful!

Forever grateful for your love and all that you’ve brought me through.

Whenever my heart’s in despair I turn and run straight to you.

And you’re there to comfort me and create my life anew.

And so I dedicate this song to you.

And, that’s why I serve you; with my whole heart.

That’s why I love you; nothing will tear us apart.

That’s why I praise you; you’ve given me a brand new start

And that’s why I’m, I’m thankful.

And that’s why I’m, I’m thankful!

I’m thankful that you’ve got my back (and that’s why I’m, I’m thankful)!

Now nothing can hold me back (and that’s why I’m, I’m thankful)!

You set my feet on solid ground (and that’s why I’m, I’m thankful)!

I’m thankful that I’m Heaven bound (and that’s why I’m, I’m thankful)

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: his mercy endureth forever.” (Psalm 107:1)

Elementsofvirtuecollection@gmail.com

He Loves Me

He, He loves me! He fought for me and died for me because He loves me!

And though I am not deserving he reaches out for me to serve Him

and even when I am caught in the very act of my transgressions He touches my heart,

never letting me stray too far

because He loves me.

Through all the lies and pain that drain my strength I gain

While His grace multiplies and His love never dies so in the end,

There is no end because He is strength in my weakness to contend and win.

And I, I cry tears from the heart that flow from my eyes

While contemplating thoughts of he and I saying our last good-byes

as He releases me from a tangled intricately designed web of lies

simply because He loves me.

When he broke my heart, He mended my open wounds.

And my heart, my heart He searches and knows.

And though my sins towards Him were as boxing blows,

He never stopped loving me-madly, truly, deeply!

My thoughts-wrong, my deeds-wrong, my heart-not right, they were all wrong!

Yet, He still showed His mercy and gave me song

that resounds in my mind and heart all because He loves me.

He kisses my days with morning dew; and, airbrushes the sky in yellow, blue, and purple hues; and,

places a poetic spin on my tongue kind of, sort of, something like Langston Hughes

lifting me out of The Weary Blues.

And my dues, my dues He paid in full. These are all clues

to remind me just how much He loves me!

He overlooks my flaws, looking upon me with adoration

and favoring me as though I am His holy nation!

And now, now I am able to lift this veil of disguise,

like Maya Angelou, And Still I Rise!

and B-Yung, though I am old, I still fall short of a twin tower mentality.

I know I haven’t always been deserving of His love.

But I thank Him for loving me – so compassionately,

so unconditionally, non-fictionally – the way HE LOVES ME!

Elementsofvirtuecollection@gmail.com

Remnants of Me

Looking in the mirror and all I see

Are remnants, mere shadows, of who I used to be.

But, having a responsibility in achieving my destiny

While striving to establish and uphold Kriste-n my identity.

Without losing oneself in emotions and vanity

And allowing ill-motives and individuals to get the best of me.

No no! Jumped off, backed up, or next-ed I will not be

Guilty of cuttin’ in the third degree.

Like pieces of a puzzle being fitted together perfectly

I am being made whole and that’s what God, not I, has decreed.

Cutting off split-ends who only cause my heart to bleed

And helping those who are in need

Are instructions given so I must take heed

And not give in to empty promises that others feed

While entangled in their own battles of selfishness and greed.

Recognition of self in space and time I seek and see

Guidance from above leading and guiding me

to where HE wants me to be

with tiny steps taken in achieving what will become my destiny;

And finding virtue and integrity encompassed in my identity.

Offsetting inner emotions and external values of beauty-all that which is Vanity-

Now I am taking back the best of all that has been relinquished or stolen from me

Including my dignity, my integrity, and my self-respect of be

-ing nobody’s cut buddy in the first, second, or third degree!

Ha-ha! Imagine me, a picture perfect perfection of perfectly

Designed wholeness as my God has decreed!

By mending open wounds so my heart does not bleed

for those split-ends who offered zero reciprocity; and therefore, them I do not need!

Now receiving a just reward for having taken heed

To the promises of God off of which I feed.

For doing such there is no existence of overdosing and greed.

And after tonight, looking in the mirror and all I see

Is who I Am, a bright and shining reflection of me, and not who I used to be.

elementsofvirtuecollection@gmail.com

elementsofvirtuecollection.wordpress.com

Alpha: A Daughter’s Cry

“Farther along we’ll know all about it; farther along we’ll understand why”

Lyrics that rang out in the sanctuary of the Fair View skies I left behind.

A warm, peaceful stillness now hovers overhead when gazing on the evening’s Westside as I recall childhood loneliness and feelings of displacement, all over a father I barely knew. Where is he? Why doesn’t he love me? Longing for a father’s love that was unreachable, unspeakable, un-teachable; yet something I could only see in the lives of those around me. Such a love was too farfetched for me to ever imagine actually attaining for myself.

Perplexed as to what made others more deserving of a father’s love than me. Having no one to call “daddy,” left a concave groove in my heart right up until I came into recognition of the pivotal moment when childhood ends and adulthood begins; a moment when I stopped dwelling on what was missing in my life and began to recognize the importance of the Father that surpasses all fathers. At that moment all manifested bitterness towards the father I barely knew quickly flew.

Though bitterness has flown feelings of gloom will forever remain known when thinking of myself as a child he never knew. Feelings of life as an unfair game of take it or leave it and he chose the latter. Now an adult, I’m stuck picking up and piecing together the pieces that were broken from birth and I don’t know if he’s glad or even concerned with whether I’m happy or sad or, just living his life up from where he left off with me at the core, you know, the part that always gets tossed to the side and thrown away just so you can gain more of what you had once before.

They say time heals all wounds. Should it be so? Then why was it that I always seemed to be the only child broke, beaten, bruised, battered, and left bloodied by a father who, to my knowledge, never laid hand nor eye on me until the age of ten. It was his absence that caused the most damage, sending me on a thirst-ful rampage in search for love made of glass that dug deep into visual layers of my being and all the while I stand oblivious to seeing the gashes in my skin.

Feelings of impossibility in loving myself, even though love was all I had until it was gone and I was left crying “another sad love song,” similar to the one I cried out in silence: Happy Father’s Day! Nineteen ninety-six, as my mind remains fixed on why everyone’s father is present and happy except-MINE! Trickling down the family line: grandpa, uncle’s Boom, Keith, Kevin, and Preston; but, I knew who was missing at this particular moment in time, father of mine, this is your daughter’s cry.

“God is a Father to the fatherless.” (Psalm 68:5)

elementsofvirtuecollection@gmail.com

elementofvirtuecollection.wordpress.com

Elements of Virtue Collection

Embrace the Elements

Trolley Rides

Reflections

Behind These Eyes

Nobody’s Home

Battlefield

Phenomenal Woman, Too: dedicated to the late, Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014)

Thankful

He Loves Me

Remnants of Me

Alpha: A Daughter’s Cry