10: Serenity by Celita
As a follow up to this week's episode here are the show notes and the words to my poem "Serenity". This is the fourth poem in my Recovery series.
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Serenity
God
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace
Trusting as Jesus did this sinful word as it is
And not as I would have it
Trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with you forever in the next
Amen
I wish me and my sister were tighter
I’m not sure she knows how much I like her
Although I won’t hesitate to fight her
She’ll be my homey to the wire
I wish New Orleans didn’t flood
A city covered with water mixed with blood
The people trudging through the mud
Wishin’ Michael Brown knew what his job was
Not dead bodies, but dead lives
That’s a dead flame that’s floating by
Can’t help but to question and ask why
But I know so many more people could have died
Still we turn our heads up to the sky
I can’t find my daughter is she still alive?
Without her I’m not sure I can survive
Can’t keep my hopes up though I’ve tried
I wish gas prices were lower
I go to the pump
Push start, lift the lever up
And watch the money lump
To a sum that makes me go numb
I go dumb and can’t speak no more
It’s a little more than I can afford
And driving a Ford Explorer
Is becoming more of a chore
Than a cool ride
That makes me look live like I was looking for
But wishing things would change
Doesn’t change anything
The only peace is in accepting
That the way things are
Is the way things should be
And it’s in this that I find my serenity
Not saying you don’t fight
I mean, you change what you can
But what you can’t you leave alone
You leave it up to the man
Whether its messed up or blessed up
Whether it’s rotten or right
Imma' lay down my head
And Imma' sleep tonight
Not stay awake hoping it turned out differently
No it turned out the way it did
So it is what it is
And I find my peace in this…acceptance
I wish leaders for forever
They plant seeds and watch it grow
It’s really hard to see them go
But deep down in your heart you know
It’s probably the best thing
But it’s testing
My investing in this nesting
And others investing in me
Because when turnover is heavy
Trust breaks like a levee
And when the successor’s a little queasy
Man, rebuilding ain’t easy
I wish my dance ministry were huge
And we always making the news
We got our own line of shoes
And we always breaking the rules
Other dancers, us choose
Huge concerts, us rule
A couple mishaps, a few
But in the end, us cool
I wish maybe I looked a little bit older
Grown folks giving me the cold shoulder
First impressions
Got them guessin’
Is this a child spittin’ blessing
Am I being asked to repent
From a delinquent
How much time has she spent
On this earth is she ten?
And then their mouths hit the floor
When I tell them I’m twenty-four
But that’s okay cause when I’m sixty
A man that’s thirty be hittin’ on me
Because wishing things would change
Doesn’t change anything
The only peace is in accepting
That the way things are
Is the way things should be
And it’s in this that I find my serenity
Not saying you don’t fight
I mean, you change what you can
But what you can’t you leave alone
You leave it up to the man
Whether its messed up or blessed up
Whether it’s rotten or right
Imma' lay down my head
And Imma' sleep tonight
Not stay awake hoping it turned out differently
No it turned out the way it did
So it is what it is
And I find my peace in this…acceptance
I wish my style was a little more prissy
But that stuff just don’t seem to fit me
But I was thinking that maybe
If I looked a little more like a lady
Then the brotha’ might ask me out to a movie
Instead of looking right through me
To the sista’ standing next to me
Because she got a bigger chest than me
I can’t let it get the best of me
But I can’t help to be just wondering
I wish I could keep friends for a lifetime
But looking back over my timeline
It seems that they disappear when its rough
And then come back fine
So now my trust is busted
And my iron that sharpens your iron has been dripped on
Now its rusted
It’s caked up a crusted
So I’ve got a friendship malfunction like Janet and Justin
I wish I could dance all the time
Cause in my mind
Life moves in beats and rhyme
And I glide to the bass droppin’ down in my soul
It makes me lose control like Missing
My body convulses in a tizzy
But I gotta’ stop because I’m too broke and busy
And though my passions’ not fleeting
I gotta’ keep working
So I can keep eating
And speaking of working
I wish I could do better at my job
I put in time and I get robbed
My pride quenched under the mob
Of the demands and commands
Mixed his his plans that their fans
I explain they still don’t understand
My happiness is banned
My integrity is slammed
Feels like I’ll never measure up
Being compared to those who’ve been there
Since the floor was bare
And there was nothing in there
They helped build this thing up
From the ground up
So now I’m fed up
And ready to give up
But…
…wishing things would change
Doesn’t change anything
The only peace is in accepting
That the way things are
Is the way things should be
And it’s in this that I find my serenity
Not saying you don’t fight
I mean, you change what you can
But what you can’t you leave alone
You leave it up to the man
Whether its messed up or blessed up
Whether it’s rotten or right
Imma' lay down my head
And Imma' sleep tonight
Not stay awake hoping it turned out differently
No it turned out the way it did
So it is what it is
And I find my peace in this…acceptance
God
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace
Trusting as Jesus did this sinful word as it is
And not as I would have it
Trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with you forever in the next
Amen
