Outskirts Press, Inc Denver, Colorado The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book A Poet’s Heart All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2011 Donna Solitario v3.0 Cover Photo © 2011 JupiterImages Corporation All rights reserved - used with permission This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews Outskirts Press, Inc http://www.outskirtspress.com ISBN: 978-1-4327-7366-3 Outskirts Press and the “OP” logo are trademarks belonging to Outskirts Press, Inc PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA This book is dedicated to my Children and Grandchildren, along with the Next Generation My Students Contents With Special Thanks Introduction A Poet’s Heart Spiritual Awakening Angel’s danced Upon Moonbeams I Wish You Could See What I See For My Student’s Donna’s GED Class For This Moment Oh Little Star The Heart that Meant Well When the Sun Goes Down If I Could Change the World 11 Follow Your Dreams 13 When the World Has Let You Down 14 With Each Goodbye We Grow 15 An Angel Appeared 16 As I Awoke this Morning 17 Love Can Do Many Things 18 The Amazing Power of Love 19 Reach Out and Touch a Heart 21 It’s Going to be Okay 22 What Are You Made of? 23 A Renewed Heart 26 Where Does One Get Their Identity? 27 Sitting at the Piano 29 Touched by an Angel 31 The World Has Changed So Much 32 Rise Above 33 Listening to the Sounds of Silence 34 I Lost a Student Today 35 Friends 36 When you’re Down and Out 37 A Child’s Love 38 God Bless the Addict 39 Seasons 41 September’s Wish 42 Autumn’s Breeze 43 A Cold Winter’s Day 45 For My Poetry Friends on NR 47 Thanksgiving 48 Memories of You at Christmas Time 50 Christmas Memories of a First Love Easter Blessings 51 Grandparent’s Day 52 For Amelia For Payton 54 For Nicky 55 Dear Hannah 56 How Could I Ever Thank? 57 Veteran’s Day 59 God Bless Our Veteran’s Lonely Nights 60 Beautiful Sadness 61 Quiet Nights 62 Tears Cast Upon the Horizon 63 Return Your Love to Me 64 Before I Was Born 65 Heart Beats 66 The Magic of Your Voice 67 Are You Dreaming of Me Tonight? 68 I Love You 69 I Have a Crush on You 70 For My Son Michael 72 The Proposal 73 A Portrait of Bliss 74 Days to Come 75 For Rachael I Will Cherish You Forever 76 For My Grandchildren The Power of Love 77 For My Daughter Tracy 78 For Mark 79 Sisters 80 For Kenny with Love 81 A Poet’s Thoughts 83 I Searched Inside of My Heart Lord and I Found Love 84 Mother Mary Let Us Pray 85 Fill Me up Lord 86 When I Walked Through the Storm Lord 88 There Was a Silence Tonight 89 Dear Jesus 90 Dear Jesus and Mother Mary 91 Promote Love and Peace 92 Thank the Heavens 93 One Never Knows 94 There Is Only Today 95 Our Father 97 Seven Spirits before His Throne 98 May Gods Love Shine On You 99 For My Mother and Father 100 Dare to Express 102 The Ways of the World 103 You are a great God 105 Do You Remember? 106 A Friend 108 Time is Ticking 109 With Special Thanks I would like to thank my Higher Power God, who has inspired me to write poetry With special thanks to Alison Albright my Editor who is an inspiration to me I would like to give special thanks to Jessica Gilbert for creating my author’s badge, and the permission to use it for my book cover I also thank Jessica for her dedication in helping to promote all artists, with love and devotion I am honored that she featured my poems in her online Talent Spotlight Magazine In addition, I give special thanks to Chase Von and Betty Dravis the authors of “Dream Reachers” who featured me in their inspiring book, including Celebrities, Icons, and new uprising stars Thank you so much for believing in me and my poetry! With heartfelt thanks to my students Remember to follow your dreams Make your world colorful Sing in the shower Go into the forest and give a holler Let nature and the animals know that you’re alive Soar high up to the skies Love someone with your whole heart Reach out and touch the hand of God R S 96 S Our Father In the beginning God created the Earth and heavens How he dreamed of pleasing his children Adam and Eve didn’t listen The forbidden fruit was eaten In the day of Adam God created a generation In the image of God he made them Then God said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” God gave commandments for everyone to see What forbidden fruit is the world now eating? We need to pray for each other for a new beginning R S 97 S Seven Spirits before His Throne Being the final sacrifice To them that are sanctified By God the father and preserved in Jesus Christ With faith delivered unto the Saints In heaven with Jesus they reign For ungodly men Afterward destroyed them Darkness came on that day The Lord came with ten thousand Saints With raging waves of the sea For judgments of their ungodly deeds Having not the spirit of our Lord Jesus Others save with fear To the only wise God our Savior Be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever R S 98 S May Gods Love Shine On You May you have faith in the things that you To know in your heart how very much God loves you For your a gift from God A treasure from up above You’re special in your own way God made you unique by his holy grace May Gods love shine on you With your spirit being renewed Reach for the sky and follow your dreams Remember this world is temporary Live for a cause Touch others hearts Live so you can make it to heaven one day Be blessed with everlasting faith R S 99 S For My Mother and Father Thank you dad and mom for bringing me into the world I am proud to have been your little girl Dad I always adored your hardworking ways The listening ear, that you freely gave For teaching me the meaning of respect While keeping me on track if I made a mess The unconditional love you always gave The strength you showed and your thoughtful ways It means the world to me that you’re my dad I thank God for the fun times we had Your such an outstanding grandfather and great grandfather The children love you so very much for just being you God bless you and may all of your dreams come true Mom thank you for your loving ways For the unconditional love that you gave Thanks for leaving an open door to come home to While always telling me the truth Even when it hurt You had the strength to what was in my best interest For working hard to put dinner on the table Teaching me an appreciation for music S 100 S I have always been so proud of your beautiful voice Teaching children the piano was your number one choice In life and you did it with such grace The gift of music and inspiration is what you gave I cherish this and hold it close to my heart Thanks Mom for enabling me to share my poetic heart God bless you all of your days I am grateful for all that you gave R S 101 S Dare to Express Dare to express the feelings deep within your soul Share with others and take control Allow your heart’s desire to unfold Let go of the old and begin anew Let your thoughts and feelings flow through When you you’ll be set free Filled with an epiphany Of gallant strength like the mighty sea Your soul will soar to heaven’s delight Your emotions will heal and take flight Your mind will indulge in a sanctuary of heaven Where few have been For when you express true feelings from within A miracle begins Others will be inspired by your grace Wishing to express their feelings with faith Freedom and peace will take lead o’er the land Truth will empower others to understand When we express feelings deep within our souls Pain and suffering will lose its hold R S 102 S The Ways of the World The ways of the world can leave one empty For they cannot make you completely happy Material things can fill a need But in time their momentum eventually leave The ways of the world can sometimes diminish What your heart set out to accomplish What the world needs now more than ever is love The ways of the world try to cover up The power of God’s love The ways of the world have no room for God or Jesus Only worldly success and vivid dreams Which don’t mean everything Spirituality is often shunned by the ways of the world Tempting others to buy gifts and frills Leaving little time for kindness, empathy, and love for others We need to be there for our sisters and brothers Don’t be fooled by the ways of the world Where it is increasingly unpopular to mention God One does not need to look far To see people with strife and hardened hearts My friend please don’t look the other way S 103 S For if nothing changes this is how it will remain Let us all come together and pray for a better way To live in peace and harmony We need to put God first Pray, help others and attend church Let us pray to God for a change There still is time To reach the heart of the divine Use your voice Make a choice To walk away from the ways of the world Send the ways of the world in a backward twirl Stand up for your convictions Feel the wonder of heaven R S 104 S You are a great God You Are a Great God How you touch my heart Your wondrous ways For all that you gave To all of your people on Earth I hear your voice as the birds chirp I see your beauty in the big blue sea I feel your love deep inside of me I sense your power in the mighty storms Thank you for being beside me ever since I was born I smell the scent of your sweet gestures I touch the elegance of your holy rapture I pray that others will feel your love too For only your love and Holy Spirit can make us renewed You are a great God I give you thanks and praise for healing my heart While freeing my weary soul For making your spirit of love be known R S 105 S Do You Remember? Do you remember when you were young? When life was easy and full of fun Perhaps there were some sad moments too Did you ever recall falling down as a kid and getting bruised? Were there moments of catching pollywogs and fish down by the lake? Going for a swim when you were a teen and getting baked The first kiss with your first love Remembering someone special giving you a hug Driving your first car Gazing forever at the stars The first time you went to the beach Watching the tide come in and water splashing your body Do you remember going to the prom? Taking hours to get ready and feeling like a star What about your first date? Did you feel excited or could you hardly wait to return home again? Realizing you just wanted to be friends How did you feel when you finished school? Did you miss your friends and being cool? What was it like when you began your career? S 106 S Were you confident or was there some fear? What was it like when you first realized that you needed God? Did you reach out to him and give him your heart? How does it feel to get older now and watch days go by Are you grateful for his blessings and thank him at night? R S 107 S A Friend A friend knows that you’re not perfect They would not reject The weaknesses you have yet to overcome Or the mistakes made when you were young A friend try’s to understand Rather than judge you they reach out their hand Even with flaws and foolish mistakes A friend never loses faith That you will step up to the plate While a friend gently allows one to grow I realize that a friend is to treasure and hold R S 108 S Time is Ticking Tick tock tick tock Someone silence that darn clock Time is going by too fast I can’t seem to grasp My life quickly passing by I yearn to be by the ocean’s tide Sipping my favorite drink Reminiscing fond memories Tick tock tick tock Someone silence that darn clock Can’t Mother Nature see? I need her to slow time down so that I can breathe Yesterdays are now far away Time is stealing my todays My future is in question Wonder did I learn life’s lessons? Perhaps I missed that ship Deep down I’m just a kid With a heart light as a feather Sitting in rainbow ponds in rainy weather Tick tock tick tock Someone silence that darn clock S 109 S Children are grown and grandkids are growing up fast Time to go out and have a blast I have some years left before my bones will grow weak When wrinkles will appear from cheek to cheek Eyes won’t see what they used to Ears will hear only echoes of musical instruments like the flute Tick tock tick tock Someone silence that darn clock With final thoughts~ May God’s blessings be bestowed upon you While making your dreams come true May you always be blessed by the Grace of God Love and peace to you From A Poet’s Heart R S 110 S ... Appeared A beautiful angel appeared when I was in tears I felt alone, and shed some tears I went to the chapel to pray Hoping to have a brighter day To find faith and peace in my day It was then... matter Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami, and the fear of spreading radiation The loss of lives in a devastated country is heart- breaking We our part by sending prayers and relief It makes me realize... From a poet’s heart to yours, I pray that you will always know the love and peace of God May God Bless You and Hold You in the Palm of His Hand A Poet’s Heart The Poet’s Heart Is by Far A Gift