DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE, BRONZED WITH ELEGANCE, ENABELED WITH GRACE AND TOASTED WITH BEAUTY....MY GOD SHE IS A BLACK WOMAN!! ~LANGSTON HUGHESOpen yourself to life's surprises. Though a few will bring pain, others willbring joys you never knew you were missing. Sometimes it is useful, andeven joyous, to find what you are not looking for. Seek with diligence, yet donot become so singularly focused on the objective that you miss out on allthe other goodness that surrounds you and comes your way."The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." "Life is a cycle, always in motion, if good times have moved on so will times of trouble!" "If you see someone without a smile... give them one of yours!" "The best things in life are not things." "You can make more friends in 2 months by becoming more interested in other people than you can in 2 years by trying to get people interested in you." "Don't chase your dreams, catch them." "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." "A man is but a product of his thoughts; what he thinks, that he becomes." "Making miracles is hard work, most people give up before they happen." "A mind that has been stretched will never return to it's original dimension." "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.""Nothing is worth more than this day." "It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, than you are indeed a man of true wisdom." "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for"Love means to love that which is unloveable. Otherwise it is no virtue at all." "Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the self-same well from which your laughter arises was often-times filled with your tears." "It is important to honour our beginings, to remember that we matter, and that we have a place in this world that no one else has." "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther -------------------
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"Sistas just because you loved and lost, doesn't mean you stop lovin', if you have a nightmare, does it mean you stop dreaming?" -Jill Scott “God makes three requests of his children: Do the best you can, where you are, with what you have, nowâ€"All of us are stars in our own way and deserve the right to twinkle." "When you come to the edge of all the light you have, and must take a step into the darkness of the unknown, believe that one of two things will happen to you: either there will be something solid for you to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly." "I grumbled at having no boots until I met a man with no feet." "If you love something... set it free. If it returns... you never lost it. If it disappears and never comes back, it was never yours to begin with." "The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning." "Never look down on a person unless you are picking them up." "There are two eternities that can really break you down - yesterday and tomorrow. One is gone and the other doesn't exist yet...so live today." "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." " Dont fall in love with someone you can live with... fall in live with someone you cant live without..." "Each and everyone of us are Angels with only one wing. We need to hold on to each other before we can fly." "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." "Doing nothing in fear of making a mistake, is the greatest mistake you'll make." "God works in mysterious ways, but he gets there all the same."We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." "The person who seeks all their applause from outside has their happiness in another's keeping." "I am not afraid of storms, for I have learned how to sail my ship." "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong " "In the pursuit of your dream, you shall be constantly subjected to tests of your persistence and courage. So dont be hasty or impatient. If you push forward impulsively, you would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along your path." "You will never be able to escape from your heart. So its better to listen to what it has to say. That way, youll never have to fear an unanticipated blow." "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." "Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." "Never judge your success by how high up the ladder you get, judge it by how high you bounce when you fall off and hit the bottom." King "You need the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can and the wisdom to know the difference." "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." "The road to success is full of parking places." "They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them but then an entire life to forget them." "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." "If you want to know what a man is like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death." "The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. Freedom and slavery are mental states." "Backgrounds and circumstances may have an affect on who we are. But we are responsible for who we become." -------------------------
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Watch my future husband (John Legend) recite his song/poem at the Def Poetry Jam! :-) -----------------------------------To All the Boys I've loved before... Part one! .. --------------------------------I Want a Love Like... And while I have heard it said, that some men have seen angels... I have seen you and for now, that is all of heaven I need to see. -Dwayne Duncan --------------------------------I stretched my arms towards the sky like blades of tall grass, the sun beamed between my shoulders like carnival drums. I sat still in hopes that it would help my wings grow... so then I could really be fly; and then she arrived... like day break inside of a railroad tunnel, like the new moon, like a diamond in the mines, sudden. She made my heart beat in a now now time signature. Her skinny canvas were ultraviolet brush strokes. She was the suns painting, she was a deep cogniac color, her eyes sparkled like lights along a new city, her lips purched as if her breath was too sweet and full for her mouth to hold. I said, you are the beautiful distress of mathematics, I said for you, I would peel open the clouds like new fruit, give you lightening and thunder as a dowry. I would make the sky shed all of it's stars like rain and I would clasp the constellations across your waste and I would make the heavens your cape and they would be pleased to cover you... they would be pleased to cover you... may I please cover you... please -----------------Within the halls of my most fond memories Is a vision of you, smiling, heart open I gather my strength to hold you close to me Complete in the understanding that in my arms Is where you most want to be. It is a kind of strange beauty which Could not be written more perfectly then The most profound fiction... Could this be A glimpse into heaven?.... Could this be The beginning of truth?... Or could it be that We two, love each other so deeply that when We touch, angels weep with joy at the beauty They see.-Dwayne Duncan ---------Indeed... it was but a shadow and whisper you would have loved, not the reality. Remember...? You told the world you wanted silver yet expected gold from me. Destiny..... was this all predestined to be? or are we the sum of our choices? Indeed... this shapes our REALITY! Regrets you say, true I have many. I pray you find happiness though. yes... a new beginning . So I bid you farewell my beautiful. Forgive me if you can... for my sins. Our paths will not cross again. -Aaron Woods--------------------------A Picture, they say a picture is worth a thousand words... I don't have a thousand but here are a couple, two peas in a pod, two beans, two forces, brought together by god, right time wrong place, white smiles, your face, in a frame captured by light, cameras, action, stilled in the back of my mind, on the tip of my tongue but my mouth wouldn't open, I panic, you vanish, gone... but your vision appears in my memory so clear, your style, your hair, perfume still lingers in the air, air lingers breath, breath lingers words, words linger love, love lingers I do, I do lingers forever, but forever is a lie! a couple is not forever, forever is time, time is all I ask, I ask am I worth it? They say a picture is worth a thousand words! I broke mine down to a couple... I say picture perfect...-------------------------------------------------- --------- You have lost nothing, for if you wanted, you could have me. Confused, I lock my heart up and throw away the key; knowing... simply knowing there is nothing out there for me... momentarily... I return to the depths of Niagra Mist... sit and watch the water fall... my wings restored... still I choose to walk... You find your way back to her... while I... am lost...-kalia -------------------------------------Drip drop are tears of forgot, the rain brings memories of pain, how the last time I was touched by you would be the last time i'd ever be touched, who knew? Rain can bring such an euphoria. It brings to life muscles once used to penetrate my soul, now all it brings are aches in my heart of unimaginable pain, never heard or told. I dont wish to hear the rain make puddles. I lay in your corner of my bed and huddle missing your smell while we cuddle. How your breath raised the hair on my neck. How your love was left on my pillow, now just drenched in lonely tears of sorrows. I cant stand the rain, it reminds me of your hunger, how I was your prey, within your arms I would have stayed. But the rain has washed you away. I'm left alone, only my broken heart remains.-Memoirs of a broken heart---------------------------------Why when I love I feel so safe, Why when Im jealous I cant seem to behave, I indulge in my passion, I love not hate, my mind says slow down but my heart cant wait. All I want is happiness so why am I afraid, why am I uncertain of the choices that i've made. why do I hate that I love so hard, why do I love at all, when the more I trust and the more I give, the harder I seem to fall. It's impossible to believe in what I once thought was fate... why is their a thin line seperating love and hate? -kalia--------------------------------------- Had I known that the heart breaks slowly, dismantling itself into unrecognizable plots of misery,Had I known the heart would leak, Slobering its sap, with vulgar visability, Into the dressed up dining rooms of strangers,Had I known that solitude could stifle the breath, Loosen the joint, And force the tongue against the palate,Had I known the lonelines could keloid, Winding itself around the body In an ominous and beautiful cicatrix,Had I known, yet I would have loved you, Your brash and insolent beauty, Your heavy comedic face and knowledge of sweet delights,But from a distance. I would have left you whole and wholly For the delectation of those who Wanted more and cared less.-Maya Angelo---------------------------------I blame this damn rain, cloudy skies covering the golden sun washing away my outer shell, nothing left but my secret pain. Open and exposed all eyes on me, staring, judging, pointing, snickering, my soul on display, from this funk, I long to be free. All the mistakes i've made flash before my eyes, loves lost, bad decisions, good intensions, perfect plans gone wrong, all the coulda, shoulda, wouldas fade into whys. As I sip a glass of wine and listen to a sad song I become melacoholic, the latest shade of blue. Perhaps the merlot is the only one who understands the sadness of a woman loves dragged along. Liquid rejuvenation rolls down my tongue bittersweet like my life, my tears. The unique taste of anguish in a wide bottom glass makes it's way to my heart... leaving me numb. Anythings better than this dysphoric gloom with the absence of when I might start a new day. The sun will shine, tomorrow i'll pray for joy, but tonite ill settle for melancoholic-merlot in this dark room...-Noir------------------------------------------------ ------ Beside you, prone, My naked skin finds Fault in touching. Yet it is you Who draws away. The tacit fact is: The awful fear of losing Is not enough to cause A fleeing love to stay.-Maya Angelo --------------------------------- Your skin like dawn Mine like duskOne paints the beginning Of a certain endThe other, the end Of a sure beginning&-Maya Angelo--------------------------------- I have found... where I went wrong. Letting my world simply be absorbed... shut windows... locked doors... I smile... knowing I have gained more than I have lost... In losing love... I have found myself...-kalia ---------------------------------- To aquire love... fill yourself up with it, until you become a magnet... ---------------------------------
----------------------------------Love is strong yet delicate. It can be broken. To truly love is to understand this. To be in love is to respect this... -----------------------------------You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, Ill rise.Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? cause I walk like Ive got oil wells Pumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still Ill rise.Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?Does my haughtiness offend you? Dont you take it awful hard, cause I laugh like Ive got gold mines Diggin in my own backyard.You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefullness, But still, like air, Ill rise.Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise? That I dance like Ive got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?Out of the hunts of historys shame I RISE, Up from a past thats rooted in pain I RISE, I am a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I RISE, Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I RISE, I RISE I RISE...-Maya Angelo----------------------------------
I had been running, Running on this path, Knew it to be small and rugged However, I wanted to go on this path. So I was running, running, running on this path and I saw an opening, I was glad, relieved, I believed, believed there would be joy for me, There, So I was running, running, running on this path and in the distance I could see light, excited, I kept running, running, running on this path and when I arrived, there were stairs.. Life-Maya Angelo
---------------------------------- It is the what ifs, the magnimous possibilities of this life; this now, this hour, this minute, the next is unknown and that is ok! alright, all good, uh huh. Cant say what will break through, cant say what will slide out, knock up the world today, but I am soft and strong, willied and passionate. My dreams dont take the low podium, now that I know... and that don't fit into sizes or parameters. Nothing can bear my exceptionality, wont be wearing the silver medal, no metals at all. My muscle has grow and my back has vigor. I am ready for the unspecified, why shouldn't I be? It is the what-ifs that we should gild, the magnanimous possibilities of this life, this now, this hour, this minute, the next to be unknown and thats ok! oh yes, all good, uh huh...-Maya Angelo ---------------------------------- When the "storms of life" Gather darkly ahead, I think of these wonderful words I once read. And I say to myself As "threatening clouds" hover, Don't "fold up your wings" And "run for cover." But like the eagle, "Spread wide your wings" And "soar far above" The troubles life brings. For the eagle knows That the higher he flies, The more tranquil and brighter Become the skies. And there is nothing in life God ever asks us to bear That we can't soar above "On the wings of prayer." And in looking back over The "storm you passed through," You'll find you gained strength And new courage, too. For in facing "life's storms" With an eagle's wings, You can fly far above Earth's small, petty things.-Ken Hill -------------------------------------... because we are judged from the outside in, rather than from the inside out. The eyes will quickly dismiss someone for their inability to examine the inside of a human; %