Stained Glass

My time flies, just last year I was sending Amma a sympathy card telling her how sorry I was about her losing her husband, our friend Brian West not knowing that days later in late April after wishing Max a happy birthday on Facebook that I would be sending yet another sympathy card. It's still a shock that two great and beautiful brothers passed last year. I wrote this piece on the plane in 2008. I dedicate this to my Soror Amma and Sista Eileen (please someone pass onto Eileen), to all the loved ones of Brian's and Max's. RIP my brothas. This piece is called Stained Glass.

Stained Glass

God ease the pain
Of my mourning, suffering, grieving and strain
Moving closer to the day
When I say good bye to my beloved
It was just passed Saturday when I saw him last
Face gleaming as those eyes pierced through me
Loving every moment I spent with thee
As I grabbed his hand and with a passionate kiss telling him, “I love you”
Watching him stroll out the front door not knowing it would be my last
By nightfall I felt a heavy rain through my spirit
I began to cry as I thought back to how much I love him
And can’t wait to spend the rest of life with the man of my dreams
The love of my life
But something didn’t feel right
I couldn’t see clearly as I tried to wash away the sudden tears
Vision becoming blurry
As the phone rang out
As I ran to it in fear
With the short words a voice whispered, “He is gone.”
Not comprehending as my heart began to palpitate
The voice of his friend grew a little louder
“I am so sorry he is gone.”
The rain in my spirit turned into a storm as I felt the thunder boom through my heart
My beloved died and God I ask you why
Did you take him away from me we were never supposed to part
The voice on the other end was one of his best friends
As I tried to focus on the words I couldn’t understand
Comprehension was as blurry as my vision
Not being able to see clearly
There were no signs or implications
Of this sudden complication that took you away from me
Standing before thee
What I wouldn’t give to see those bright eyes gaze at me
Tears streaming like the Nile River
Although I have faith in God
And I trust you Lord
I had to wonder
Why did my man have to die and so suddenly
Without an inkling of anything wrong
Standing before him I fell to my knees in front of his casket as I began to whisper
“Good bye my love and know I will love you always until the day I am called home.”
Tears streaming
Screaming
Crying louder
Holding on for dear life
I heard a whisper
“You are my child and I will comfort you during this time of mourning.”
Not understanding I stood up and walked back to my seat as I heard yet another whisper
“Baby I love you and will be near.”
Shaking my head as I looked around
I heard your voice but no where to be found
As I walked into my empty place I once called home
Place of solitude and somewhere I can mourn
Life feels like stained glass
Looking through it is not clear to me anymore
One day I pray that my life will seem clear again
But until then I will continue to pray
As my movements through the day are slow
Hoping that someday I have an answer to your departure
But always know that I love you, miss you and praying
God will wash the stain glass
So life will be clear for me once more

Written By:

Serena Wills

May 3, 2008

Matthew: 5:4 “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.”

Dedicated to Soror Amma Tanksley-West and Sista Eileen.

Dedicated to two great brothers that we lost..Brian West and Max Osiris Finley…God bless.

Copyright Serena Wills 2008

All Rights are Reserved

Da Flip...a piece about teen pregnancy

Hey everyone! Here is my weekly post in honor of National Poetry month. I wrote this poem when a young girl in my life, close to me had her son. She was only 13 when she delivered a healthy baby boy. She's smart, intelligent, beautiful, but somewhere we lost her in the world.

According to a research study on http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/ "As of 2004, the number of live births to teenage mothers across the United States was 415,408. And the number of births to teenagers in the United States aged 15-19 was 41.2 out of a 1,000."

That was almost half a million a year in the United States alone.

Now what is baby girl doing you may ask??? She's an advocate to other teens about getting caught up, using protection and how her life will never be the same. She is a fortunate one as she still brings home A's and B's, is applying to private universities in NYC and didn't catch an STD, HIV or worst...AIDS. Talk to your teen and get all up in their business, there is no such thing as privacy with them. This is real!

So this piece is dedicated to her and her mother and it's titled, "Da Flip."

Da Flip!

This is how I feel
Your life has been flipped upside down
360 degrees
You didn’t ask for it, you didn’t want it
The confusion that has commenced over night
But it’s hear and there is no need to fuss and fight
It’s here and you didn’t want it
Your life got flipped upside down
360 degrees
Because she wasn’t careful
She wasn’t careful
See baby girl was confused
And as her mama sang the blues
And Daddy went to prison
She was in a state of confusion and needed intervention
Your life ain’t same
And believe me this ain’t no game
See baby girl found the answers
When she looked for love in all the wrong places
Nine months went by
Without one inkling of a sign
She hid this one real well
And now your life has been turned into something else
Our precious baby had a baby
And there was no room for intervention
No protection
Why didn’t she talk to us
Why didn’t she reach out
We gave her the talk and went right out of her mind
We should have been there
Too damn busy dealing with our messes
Just assumed she wouldn’t look for love in all the wrong places
She told us she was a virgin
“No Mommy I don’t want to have sex”
And we believed her
And adored her as we knew we raised her right
But we lost her
Somewhere we lost her
At the sweet age of 13
She gave birth
As you held her hand for dear life
As she screamed and screamed
And gave new life
You looked down at her as you rubbed her head
Wondering what would have happened if she never told
Even though it was just 48 hours ago
“Mommy, I did a terrible thing.”
As you saw the pain
You knew what she had done
No words needed to be spoken from that point on
Before you could even make an appointment
He came and there was your grandson
We should have been there
Why didn’t she even tell us
My best friend was a Grandmother at 32
Baby’s raising babies
Grandmothers raising grandkids
No love lost but the trust is gone
The trust is gone people
How can I trust…
I believed her…I wanted too…God I believed her…
But she lied to us
She was so so scared
But now she has to raise a baby in this cold world
We are losing our children to pressure
To ill conceptions
World issues
To street demons
We are losing them…and we need to ask ourselves what are we gonna do…

Copyright 2009 Serena Wills

All Rights are Reserved

God's Whisper

Happy Easter everyone! In honor of National Poetry month I told people that I would post a new piece every Sunday in April. With today being Easter I thought this poem was appropriate. I wrote this piece after reading an inspiring book by Dr. Bessie Blake titled Speak to the Mountain. After reading the book in less than a week I wrote this piece as I was going through some dark moments in my life and was walking towards seeing out of it into the light. I hope this poem can encourage someone today. Peace and blessings.

God's Whisper

Listen
Listen
Listen
God spoke to me
In my darkest hour
In a whisper
As I cried for days and nights
I finally heard His voice
I began to quiet my spirit as the loud sobs turned into whimpers
A voice so softly
So gently
At the midnight hour
Told me
“I will get you through
Speak to the mountains in your life my child
Tell them your problems, talk to THEM
Declare to me that you will get through this and let me inside
Look out into the dark night my child and know I will get you over
the mountains
SPEAK TO IT
As the voice grew it shouted louder
SPEAK TO IT!"
As the dawn arose I awoken to feeling the Holy Spirit blanket me
A shield of protection as my heart began to get lighter
I began singing and praising His name
As the sun began to shine and the clouds cleared in my life
I just lifted my hands and shouted Thank You
It felt so wonderful to shout so I did it again as I yelled even louder
Thank You Jesus!
I spoke to the mountain asking for God to forgive those that trespassed against me
I spoke the other mountain as I asked God to forgive me for I have sinned
Praying for a new day and a lighter soul
At that moment I forgave my enemies
It was that moment that I left my past behind me
I now lived for the future and prayed for those I left on the mountain
Not everyone can walk with you on your spiritual journey
Not everyone can walk the same path to the same beat as you
In that waking moment I knew I was FREE!
Free from emotional distress
Free from having my spirit enslaved
Free from mental bondage
I was FREE!
Speak to me Lord
Thank You
Speak to me God
Thank you God
Thank you for getting me over the mountains in my life

Dedicated to those who have never spoken to the mountains in their life. Speak to them and may God lead you down your righteous path.

Copyright 2008 Serena Wills

All Rights Reserved

Faith in the Valley

I wrote this piece the night President Obama won the election. In honor of National Poetry Month I will post a poem every Sunday. Since I missed this passed Sunday this will be my first post and this Sunday you'll see another (two for one). This historic night rang through my spirit as I witnessed with thousands of people at Friendship West Baptist Church that night. People were crying, falling to their knees thanking God and the elders raised their hands high as they didn't think that they would ever see this happen. Enjoy my piece titled, "Faith in the Valley."

Change was made tonight
United country we stood
Strive to vote for change
All races, creed, religions
Came together
And jumped from a crumbling foundation
Of what was the past
And took a leap of faith onto a concrete future
God showed me
What true faith is
Believing in Him and never taking your eye off of your Father
We struggled, have been impoverished and beaten down
Some thought God can’t be around
He wouldn’t allow this to happen to His people
But we went through strife and pain
So when the struggle is over we will regain
As he doesn’t want us to get into a habit of maintaining
Any faith that was lost
I’ll be able to tell my children “Si se puede”
Strive for the best and know
Sky’s the limit
Our ancestors, elders made this path for us
One stepped out of the crowd and had faith
And with his prayer warriors and belief in Him
He won the fight and got in
A man who could look me into the eye and relate to me…to us
Everything he says touches my heart
But one speech resonates with me apart from all…
DNC night he said, “I only met my father once while I was 10, I believe his absence shaped the person that I am today.”
Room went silent
Heavy tears flowed
He was talking to me
All the years and I now know
I am who I am partly because of his absence
Could’ve went the other way and strayed
But his absence and my Mothers strong arm helped me to stay
Grounded, focused and simply astounded
That our President can relate to me, we…all
The struggle isn’t over
Time to work
As we become
A united front

Copyright 2009 Serena Wills

All Rights Reserved