Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all,—
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain

– Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Source: Family Friend Poems

Breathe In

Take in all that’s bad
All the wrong
And all that’s sad

Hold it in, your growing fears
But don’t let out
Your wanting tears

Reality now hits the heart
But when one things ends
Another starts

The bad begins to make you frown
But hold in that breath
Don’t stay down

Every person young and old
All the bad…
It hurts the soul

But don’t panic yet, your lungs can hold
Everything you know
Beings to set

Know the bad
Know the worse
Know all that started first

Breathe Out

Let it out, the bad you took
But now, don’t let
Yourself work

Leave in the dreams you love so much
Keep them strong
Make them touch

Know the fears, but store them away
Save the fears
For another day

Taking the reality, but turn it around
Find the good
From the down

Let out the air you held so long
Let your soul
Sing its song

See the good from the bad
You will no longer
Feel the sad

Let the good settle in your heart
Now be ready
For a new start

-Katie Rose Waechter

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

– Maya Angelou

Source: Family Friend Poems