Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Beautiful Struggle



Ask this man what he has seen and where he's been
Ask him his purpose and the time that he's spent.

Today's blog is dedicated to us, to our hardships and all the beauty we can find within them. As I sometimes say "struggle & heart ache are eminent but pain although unplanned can be optional.
So to leave you with something, I challenge you to reach into your past, to look at all of the hard times & struggle, and pull the beauty that remained when the ground was left with broken glass, coagulated blood & rusted chains. Think of all of the times when love came through in the midst of despair. Life itself is fulled with beautiful struggles, life itself is a Beautiful Struggle.  I hope that I am blessed with the years of old age so that one day someone might ask me where I've been. But it's just not about living which depends, but the legacy left behind & how much love we decide to send. Enjoy

Devils sliver in dark light, constantly whispering sweet nothings with bitter tongues
Into the ears of the downtrodden as
Angels draw swords cutting lies & false truths to pieces while we
Struggle with hustle struggle in silence… struggle much with ourselves
We feel pain so naturally, so it's so hard to remember... to create good times
The abundance of pleasure some throw all responsibility aside to find
What comes easy for some we think as blessed
While we watch hundreds we know and strangers get left so far behind but…
I had to question myself before writing this and so argue I did
“How can a struggle be beautiful, Beautiful Struggle?... that’s Bullshit!”
Kept me silent from writing this poem, yes I must admit yet
One must not neglect the beauty found everywhere that through hardship does persist
The Love found in the damned of places that through all BS does very much exist
I’ve spoken before about the love heard in polyrhythmic beats in
The miracles found & love-filled events that transpire in the streets &
Beautiful things within doors things that make community worthwhile
While family gets too close for some
Things to remember welcomed for our hearts to endure
While others try to forget even themselves & life’s disadvantages trying to numb
We find middle ground somewhere between complete success & failure
As struggle becomes normal and progress, we learn can only be measured by us
Time and time again, while cursing ourselves, family & those that are used... for
Slandering, drama, fighting, backstabbing, conniving… used by forces many don’t know
Or admit the prescience of something greater or lesser that has always been old... we
Search for answers in books & in group meetings while those that fear circumstance
Gain something positive or negative within the will of control
Strengthening through beautiful storms us… we learn not to complain while
Negative forces coerce & distort...
The truth in everything including the time left to sort, so, we must be patient & diligent
Prayers soar like swift falcons challenging the opposition is destined for defeating
Because in life we win constantly yet in living it, there is no cheating
Lessons are learned in all days’ nights in all time given to us in some way so
How does a struggle become beautiful?
Through all the hardship, trial & pain nothing but love remains
In spontaneous BBQs, plates of soul food, ambrosia & potato salads... in
Smiles & interactions with much laughter
The Children
Beauty within man & woman, an embrace of thanks, hand shakes &
Holding an elder’s hand
Car washes, church cookouts to raise funds
Park & lake events, old songs church hymns
Love from someone I haven’t seen since...
Acknowledgment from or hookup from a friend we didn’t know had much clout
Dap, hug & uncontrollable smile from a family member or friend fresh out
A Beautiful Struggle is That Love that damn near extinguishes pain & greed
The type that flies wild on the wind like dandelion seeds
In each message, each smile, in each accomplishment they make that makes us also proud
In the ability for a man or woman to change for the greater good
In an older person’s ability to accept & learn more
In a young person’s ability to listen & learn from the wise
In you, in me, in everything that the Lord creates as good
Together in us is a Beautiful Struggle of how on each other we might depend... for
All of the time given, words spoken and all the love in-between that we send
Wishing we could leave yesterday’s & years stresses for new morning wake
Some give lovingly while others have grown so accustomed to take
Waiting the day where each plan meets success where
Each stress doesn’t hurt the heart like others we have once let in
Left with a bright world void of obstacles with endlessness till death I can explore...beautifully
When I spread seeds of hope with examples of my own & my family struggles no more

Beautiful Struggle
6-21-2011