Never judge a book
By the jacket that it wears
Never let first impressions
Hardwire your thoughts right there
Never miss a second look
In case you fail to see
A hidden gem, a ray of light
For discriminatingly
You may just miss the best in life
Presume; misunderstand
So walk with; get to know each one
Before you cast the hand
Of judgement less you flounder
For then all you perceive
Is your projections, inner thoughts
Prejudice and beliefs
Dear Lord, Why me?
What reason? What excuse?
When you created me?
Why the abuse?
Why, Lord, just why?
So many things gone wrong
A heart that fails to work
So weak – not strong?
Why pick on me?
Why chose to so create
A being with these issues
More of late!
Why think? “I know!
This one will do to try
How this and that will test
What goes awry!”
What sort of God
Does all of that
To leave a person
In pain feeling flat?
But Lord, you know
I’ll tell you what I think!
When pushed too far right there
Just to the brink
I’ll sing out loud
And see the good not bad
I’ll walk a life of joy
Not stay so sad
I’ll see the vista
Feel the fresh new air
And face each day
Renewed without a care
I’ll not submit
I’ll not give in and cry
For Lord, I’ll make this life
My friend; ally
And I will bear it
Not just like a cross
But fly right through because
I am the boss
I am in charge
Of life; my liberty
I want to be the one
Who swims so free
I want to know
I lived my life so well
Despite the obstacles
Not live in hell
I know I have
The choice for that is true
For you at least gave me
Freewill; sinew
And so my song
Will be this very one
One that has fought so hard
And overcome
A life all lived
With purpose and intent
A life that sees the good
Without relent
And so when I
Have drawn my last dear breath
I’ll wear a smile that loved and
Goes past death
Sunrise Serenity (Photo credit: James Marvin Phelps)
From the cradle to the grave
Impart a creed of love
Teach fairness and teach tolerance
With peace combined thereof
And don’t let colour of a skin
Nor disability
Sit in the seat of judgement where
The truth is hard to see
Don’t rush to brash assumption
Nor empower a path of blame
But turn away from hatred
Lest all else that might inflame
And light a fire within your heart
One that considers all
With outreach, empathy and hope
Unite the freedom call
Freedom (Photo credit: Kliefi)
When you have a disability
And a ‘hidden’ one at that
It’s not so much what you can’t do
That leaves you feeling flat
But the attitudes of others who
Just twist and turn the knife
With jibes and nasty comments that
Can ail and add more strife
The lack of understanding and
The fear to comprehend
The void of pure compassion or
Aversion to befriend
The cowering from all contact lest
The blame – indignity
The failure to see past the mask
Of disability
But those who stand out from the crowd
Who smile and take the time
To say hello or shake a hand
Tap out a different rhyme
That uplifts and renews all faith
In pure humanity
For smallest feats make largest steps
And mean the most you see!
English: A collection of pictograms. Three of them used by the United States National Park Service. A package containing those three and all NPS symbols is available at the Open Icon Library (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Don’t you hate it when you’re poorly
Out of sorts and feeling ill
Unable to get on with life
Against your own free will
The issues and the problems that
Sheer up the pure delight
Of living life with better health
No pain or hurt in sight
And don’t you hate it when your helpless
Paralysed by pathogens
That creep throughout your system and
Attempt to become friends
So toxic and so alien
That fail to do you good
By causing sickness and disease
With harm not understood
And don’t you hate it when your hurting
Bash, bruised with broken bones
Inflicting injuries carte blanche
To give you cause to groan
That cripple and disable that
Disturb and so upset
Don’t you hate these loathsome ailments
To them don’t you object
But life is not smooth flowing and
It comes with copious costs
Of illness, disability
So testing; arduous
But each of us can bear this brunt
The testing uphill climb
So let’s exercise compassion
When life steps out of time
We take it so for granted
When we jump up from a chair
And stand without a second thought
Or walk right over there
We take it so for granted
That our brain can turn about
Our heart beats and our blood flow
So that we simply don’t black out
We take it so for granted
When we can think with clarity
So our focus isn’t compromised
And our eyes can see clearly
We take it so for granted
When we’re revved up for the day
Bursting and full of energy
That will last in every way
We take it so for granted
Homeostatic stability
The simple things of everyday
Without disability
Yet many aren’t so lucky
For them life is just PoTS †
And a dysfunctional A-N-S*
Makes easy – oh so not!
For this condition sees the heart beat
Rise thirty beats or more
With palpitations on arising
That risk a colllision with the floor
Where life’s daily chores become a struggle
Where fatigue can be a pain!
And where the heart and brain in stand off
Result in PoTS: a constant drain!
† Postural Tachycardia Syndrome
* Autonomic Nervous System
For More Information:
If you would like to know more about this condition please visit www.stars.org.uk
Ginz&Tonic 