CLICK HERE -- A TRIBUTE TO AMERICA
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart"----Helen Keller
My name is Karen, and I would like to thank you for visiting my site. On this and the next few pages, I've put some of my original poetry, some written during the turbulent time periods of the late 60's and 70's, and others written just recently. My poetry hopefully portrays a caring, intense focus on life and the people who are residents of this earth. We, as individuals, need to try our best to put an end to the hatred, the killing, and the violence. Too many young men, women, and children have left us way too soon. I cannot, and will not tolerate hatred or violence towards individuals.
REALITY I find it hard to comprehend the use of two words often spoken from people I talk with online… and I know each of you has heard the same phrase many times before: “BE REAL”.
TO THINE OWN SELF AND TO OTHERS ... ALWAYS BE TRUE KAREN T., November 23, 2001
POSTNOTE: I've decided to mark any new material with a flashing "NEW" marker (as shown above), making it easier to find throughout the site. Thanks again, to all of you, for taking the time to read these words. Oh, and make sure to check out my other 3 pages of poetry!! The links are at the bottom of this page.
We all have a path that we follow through life, never knowing the outcome, but touching lives … hearts … our brothers, our sisters. Karen T.
EACH IN OUR OWN WAY SITTING HERE TONITE, I GOT A NOTE, ALL RIGHT !! A NEW POSTING … SOMEONE HAD WRITTEN "YOU HAVE A MESSAGE IN YOUR WEBSITE GUESTBOOK". SO I WENT TO THE SITE TO TAKE A LOOK. IT WAS FROM A YOUNG MAN, ONLY 15 YEARS OLD BUT THE WORDS THAT HE WROTE, TOLD A STORY OF A LIFE CONFUSED … A LIFE ALONE, A HEART THAT WAS BRUISED. HE WROTE THAT HE LOVED MY POEMS…THAT WAS COOL. YET HE WAS DOWN .. TO HIS FRIENDS HE’S A FOOL. HE WENT ON TO SAY HOW HIS GIRL HAD LEFT HIM, AND HOW HE THOUGHT OF SUICIDE .. ON A WHIM. RELIEVED TO SEE THAT HE LEFT AN ADDRESS I WROTE HIM A LETTER, I TRIED MY BEST … TO SPEAK OF MY MEMORIES AND TELL OF MY LIFE. TO LET HIM KNOW HOW WE’VE ALL BEEN THRU STRIFE. BUT THAT EACH OF US IN OUR OWN WAY ARE SPECIAL, YOU SEE WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY? AND FOR ALL THERE’S A REASON … ALL TOUCHING, ALL HAVING OUR SEASON. I ASKED HIM TO WRITE ME, AND THEN I SAID THANKS. WHEN WE PLAYED IN SPADES, HE PULLED HIS PRANKS. HE HAD MADE ME LAUGH THIS PAST WEEK SAYING THINGS ONLY A 15-YEAR OLD COULD SPEAK ... TO TWO OLDER PEOPLE. HE KEPT US BOTH LAUGHING AND WE CAME BACK WITH OUR OWN ELDER JOKES. AND WHO COULD HAVE KNOWN THAT EACH IN OUR WAY … WE CONNECTED ? KAREN T. MARCH 12, 2001
HAUNTED EYES SHE STANDS THERE, EYES GLISTENING YET DARING .. WANTING TO CRY, YET SHE KNOWS THEY'LL BE STARING. FOR SO MANY YEARS, SHE EMBRACED WITH HER HEART, BUT HER LIFE WAS REFLECTING ITS DISJOINTED PARTS. SHE'D BEEN BEATEN AND CURSED, HER BODY WAS BROKEN. YET HER HEART REMAINED STRONG WITH THESE WORDS SHE HAD SPOKEN. "I MUST STAY STRONG, THIS BODY'S A SHELL, BUT INSIDE I'M THRIVING, SURVIVING THE HELL. I’LL DO WHAT I NEED TO, BREAK FREE OF THIS PAIN AND KNOW THAT MY SOULD WIL BE THERE TO SUSTAIN." REWEWING HER STRENGTH FROM THE HEARTS OF HER FRIENDS, ACCEPTING THEIR LOVE WHILE THE SHELL SLOWLY MENDS. REBUILDING HER LIFE, HER SOUL KEEPS HER LIVING.. EMBRACING WITH JOY ALL THE HOPE THEY ARE GIVING. AS IN A NEW DAY WITH DEW FRESH ON A LEAF, HER SMILE TELLS THE WORLD SHE WILL NOT BEAR THE GRIEF OF THE SCARS LEFT BEHIND, OF A HEART ONCE TORN. SHE LAUGHS AS SHE KNOWS THAT HER LIFE'S BEEN REBORN. *** SHE'D BEEN BEATEN AND CURSED, HER BODY WAS BROKEN. YET HER HEART REMAINED STRONG WITH THESE WORDS SHE HAD SPOKEN... "I MUST STAY STRONG, THIS BODY'S A SHELL, BUT INSIDE I'M THRIVING, SURVIVING THE HELL. I’LL DO WHAT I NEED TO, BREAK FREE OF THIS PAIN AND KNOW THAT MY SOUL WILL BE THERE TO SUSTAIN." Karen T., 1/3/2001
TRANSPARENCY OPAQUED Living life, speaking what you do And what you are saying, is it true? Reading what’s written, beginning to feel The words you wrote, just another deal! In lessons of life, I hear what you say, But apart from your words, just another day. Reading your words, how can I know What you are saying, really so? Met you in person, an exposure Told me at once to have a closure. Be true when you write, when you speak, In all you may do, know that one might peek… Into your heart, your soul, revealing the shadow Of two-sided conflict, dealing a blow, To your thoughts, your words, your being Because of facades, all are seeing, So many words, written in jest Of the truth, of life, and now I rest … My case. Karen, 5/31/99
DO YOU CARE? A SMALL BOY, CRYING IN THE GUTTER HUNGRY AND COLD, GROWING OLD FAST. AN OLD MAN SITTING IN THE DOOR NEEDING MORE. DO YOU HAVE IT TO GIVE? SO MANY PEOPLE STARING INTO THE NIGHT WITH VACANT EYES, AND ALL THEY'VE BEEN HANDED IS LIES! AN OLD LADY LYING ON A GRATE TO KEEP WARM, AND ONE COLD NIGHT WE'RE ASKED TO MOURN HER COLD, FROZEN BODY. AND YOU CAN SIT AND SAY WHO GIVES A DAMN? I'M ME. I DON'T KNOW THAT MAN. ALL THOSE PEOPLE, LONELY AND DYING, ARE YOU EVEN TRYING TO HELP? AND A LITTLE BOY WHOSE EYES HAVE SEEN 100 YEARS ARE YOU ABLE TO FEEL, TO SHED ANY TEARS? PLEASE PEOPLE, IF YOU'VE LOVE TO SPARE PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION, DO YOU CARE? Karen, 12/5/86
Please if you would, just think about it for a minute or two. To “BE REAL”, one is existing … otherwise, we wouldn't be saying the things we do, or doing things that we are currently doing, right ?
Perhaps we should replace those two words with these: “TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS, BE YOURSELF, AS YOU ARE, NO PRETENSES”. What good does it do you or others when a false image is projected? If in fact, the situation arises that by chance a meeting occurs of 2 online people, wouldn't you prefer that what you have shown online acutally comes across in that meeting ?
Within the past several days, I've had several good friends of mine tell me they are turned off by the fakeness that a majority of people project when these people get behind the security of a computer monitor and keyboard. I feel for these individuals and the discontent and anger they are experiencing.
I have met both men and women that I've spoken with over the past 3 years, and can truthfully say that most of the individuals I have met have been as “REAL” in person as they were when we spoke online. However, there were occasions when the “FAKENESS” of individuals came out so clear that the realization was blinding. One of my poems on this site entitled “TRANSPARENCY OPAQUED” was written to record just such an encounter.
