Pick Up a Pen and Write a Poem

I have always enjoyed writing and reading poetry. Poetry is such a wonderful form of expression and creativity. They can rhyme or just be free verse. One word or many. The expression of a feeling or an idea or a story. I believe a poem can be whatever you want it to be. Words are powerfu. Poems form word pictures, evoke emotion and express our  feelings. Some of the most moving, beautiful and heartfelt poetry can be found in the Bible, especially in the Psalms.

April is National Poetry Month. I want to share with you a poem from Dear Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood (WestSide Press, 2011) by my husband, John W. Fountain. Dear Dad is the first book by our publishing company, WestSide Press, and it is a celebration and examination of fatherhood from the poems, letters and stories of my husband and 15 other writers, including myself.

 Dear Dad is available for purchase at http://www.wspbooks.com/ and also at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Order your copy now for Father's Day. Also, Dear Dad will soon be available as an ebook.

I have also included a poem that I wrote a few years ago for my husband entitled, The Strength of Tears.

Although April has come to an end
I encourage you to pick up a pen--
and write a poem.

My Daughter, My Treasure
John W. Fountain

In your brown eyes is the hope of a nation,
The history of queens and kings, of Sojourner Truths, Harriet Tubmans
And golden sunbeams.
In your mahogany skin
Is the reflection of African beauty American style,
Incomparable Nile.
In your face
I see the sun rise and the moon light,
Universe and stars, twinkling light.
Your feet are rooted
In the wisdom of the years
Sown by ancestor slaves in tears.
And your soul baked golden
By that toil and fears
Sown by slaves for years and years.
You are the embodiment of beauty
Creation of God
The treasure that men seek, the treasure I guard
Until that day when
Another man sees as I--your first love--
The treasure you are.
That treasure you are.
My treasure by far.

The Strength of Tears
Monica Fountain

Men don’t cry
Such a lie
Real men cry
And weep
And keep
A tender place in their
Heart
To feel the pain of others
To mourn for the wounded soul
To cry aloud
And spare not
Real men cry
When their babies are born
Real men cry
When children are torn
from this life by a careless bullet


Real men cry
With love in their eyes
I see you
I see a real man in your eyes
When you cry
Real men cry and weep
For the lost sheep
Who have lost their way


There is strength in tears
An overflow of divinity and humanity
That within us God has kept
Real men cry
Jesus wept