Lesson 1
By Julie Alger
At least I’ve learned this much:
Life doesn’t have to be
all poetry and roses. Life
can be bus rides, gritty sidewalks,
electric bills, dishwashing,
chapped lips, dull stubby pencils
with the erasers chewed off,
cheap radios played too loud,
the rank smell of stale coffee
yet still glow
with the inner fire of an opal,
still taste like honey.
---
Delayed Reactions
By Sherman Pearl
After the hammer slams down on your thumb
or the hurtful word penetrates,
a stunned moment follows.
You're like a soldier who feels no pain until he sees the wound.
Happiness, too, is sometimes slow to register.
It was years after the rain had sent
me and the girl huddled close to me dashing for cover
that I suddenly felt the drops.
---
from a great thread here