Tag: Expressions

To Write Again

On By gaillovesgodIn 20042 Comments

A poem??
Oh how long it’s been
Since I put my paper
To pen and ink.
Overflowing with God,
I have so much to share,
Yet do I have the heart
To let my soul be bare?
Thoughts, dreams,
Expressions of many.
Stories of love and loss,
I have plenty.
Reader, do you have
An eye for my word?
Listener, do you know
How I long to be heard?
Only God Himself
Can carry these things.
I leave them with Him.
To His side I cling.
Thank You, God,
For lifting my pen.
It felt so great
To write again!

5-28-2004 Friday
Written by Gail Brookshire

With All Our Hearts

On By gaillovesgodIn 1993, Published PoetryLeave a comment

The following is an article I wrote while on a local social services program (J.O.B.S.) designed to help single moms (and dads) with children to go back to school either for their G.E.D. or to college to work toward a degree that would allow them to support their families, and no longer need government funds for groceries, rent, etc. I wrote the article as a college student and as the Associate Editor with the campus paper… Expressions. This article was written for the July 28, 1993 issue. Our Editor was also a client of the J.O.B.S. program, and added her note below. I do not know what cut her article off, but it was printed as it looks below. The article was also printed in the J.O.B.S. Newsletter.

With All Our Hearts
Written by Gail Brookshire

I would like to take this opportunity to give a much deserved and needed “Thank You!” This thank you goes to everyone involved with the J.O.B.S. program, for all their support financially, scholastically, and mentally. The J.O.B.S. program is a miracle in disguise and everyone working with them are angels in disguise. They keep up with my attendance and see that I am doing well, not to scold me or hound me, but to see that I am doing well. If there is a problem, they can see it early enough to help me through it and fix it, instead of convicting me of a crime and giving up on me. Why? Because J.O.B.S. cares.
Bill Rollinger is my worker and has been great. He keeps track of my attendance, grades, and basically how I am getting along. He repeatedly tells me, if I have a problem just to let him know. He asks me and other clients to call just to say “hello.” When I have had problems, I did so, and received help with a warm smile. Another wonderful thing is the staff involved are always working together as a team. Whenever Bill is not in, I can ask Diane, Dale, or any of the others, whatever it is I need to know or do, and they are more than happy to help.
Best of all the most rewarding thing is the friends I find in the other clients. As we pass each other on campus or at the “house” (Magnolia Building), we ask how we’re doing and if we need help. We often pass on helpful hints to one another. We love studying together and we take it seriously, and certainly, we are always mentioning how grateful we all are to J.O.B.S. for helping us with our school funds, child care, transportation, study needs, and our psychological needs as well. I am sure everyone on the J.O.B.S. program would like to say “thank you” to Bill, Heidi, Diane, and everyone else who works so hard for us. When we are all successful in our prospective careers, we will owe a big debt of gratitude to you.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR…
I would like to take this opportunity to also express my Thanks to those fine folks who are the J.O.B.S. program. These people work really hard, with little or no recognition, and put up with a lot of garbage, all in the effort to help us help ourselves build a future for ourselves as well as our children. Alan McCracken is my case worker, and I consider him to be my friend. It is like they take you in as one of the family. I have said many times that even with all my grants and scholarships, without J.O.B.S. there is no way I would ever be able to afford to go to school. They are a constant source of information and support. Our hats are off to everyone who works for the program, and to…

Cassandra Jamerson, Editor
P.S. I would like to thank Glenda Anderson, Donna, Marion, and Ramona for the wonderful job they do in the Financial Aid Office. They work hard to enable a lot of us to be able to attend AB-Tech. My deepest gratitude to all those mentioned in this article.

I will be doing a blog regarding this J.O.B.S. program that God used to change my life on my gaillovesgod blog and will link it here. If you do not see it soon, please remind me in case I forgot to link it. 😉

Read On and Move On

On By gaillovesgodIn 1992Leave a comment

Writer’s don’t write, we feel.
And we put it on paper.
Yeah, we imagine things, but it comes
From the hurt and heart we’ve had.
We cannot possibly write something
So fake that it had nothing to do with
Anything we had to feel.
Even in our imaginations,
We see the dreams we perceive,
The nightmares we escape,
The continuing heartache
That keeps dragging us down,
And the many things keeping us going.
We are not to be blamed for what we feel.
We are what others have made us to be
By hurting us, loving us, or deceiving us.
Whichever you choose to see
Or discover in our expressions.
It’s just another way of getting hurt again,
So read on and move on. I’m sure it’s nothing new,

10-25-1992 Sunday
Written by Gail Brookshire

Rustic Retreat

On By gaillovesgodIn 1990Leave a comment

All my life I’ve written letters
To friends and loved ones too.
And no one ever understood
What it meant to say, “I love you.”
Sure there were those who said,
“Oh, that’s really nice,”
But rewarded me with abandonment.
With every word was a price.
How could they misunderstand
The difference between love and pain?
When I said I hope we’ll last,
I didn’t mean through the rain.
And all of those who fought with me
Said they accepted my apology,
But still walked away to think
And never returned to me.
So far away, so many souls,
And no one wants to write.
Though I’ve sent so many letters,
The words I say aren’t right.
So now I think I will protest
And stop this self expressing.
It’s like loving some who doesn’t love you,
And really becomes depressing.
So to those of you I’ve written letters,
There are other things in life that are better.

11-23-1990 Friday
Written by Gail Brookshire
PS. Boy was I whiny when I was younger.No one around me was into writing, which was probably how I got away with putting such personal things into my poetry and no one ever getting it. 😉 I will give you a piece of advice though, if you long to have someone write you a note. Send someone else a card or a note… for a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, an engagement, a wedding, away from home at college, or just because. Write them with no expectation of a response or anything in return! So many people want the same gesture of friendship or a simple note from someone like you do… especially one that is a delightful surprise. When God had me doing a writing ministry where I did the same thing, I assure you that while I had no clue it would mean so much, it was an absolute blessing to receive notes and card in return that let me know how it blessed them! Nothing is better than sharing God’s love… and feeling it come right back at you! God is so amazing!

Welcome Fellow Freshmen

On By gaillovesgodIn 1992, Published Poetry1 Comment

Welcome fellow freshmen,
I’m really glad to meet you.
And as you journey through these halls,
I really hope to greet you.
You may have a lot to learn,
but trust me, that’s okay.
This may be my second year,
but I learn more every day.
It’s really hard adjusting to
a very chaotic pace,
but in the end you’ll win the race
standing in first place.
Your future’s on a roulette wheel.
You’re gambling on every grade.
But when you have succeeded,
you’ll see it was worth the effort you made.

1992 Written by Gail Brookshire
(published in Expressions, Sept.1, 1992 Issue, Front page)
(by the grace of God)

School is Too Cool

On By gaillovesgodIn 1993, Published PoetryLeave a comment

*Just so ya know… this one is a little long*

School, it’s cool, but so is the snow.
Playing and sleighing, and snowballs to throw.
But oh, wait a minute, I can’t get out.
The weather is freezing and the power went out.
How can I eat? The stores are closed.
The roads are icy and the pipes are froze.
What? No water? I can’t take a shower?
Oh well, I’d freeze in this bitter cold hour.

Friends trapped, to stay inside alone.
Thank God, for the only thing left, the phone!
Talking it through together, trying to survive.
The cruel and bitter struggle to stay alive.
Boy, it sure is dark. I can’t see a thing.
It’s been hours since I’ve heard the phone ring.
People I love are too cold to move, becoming sick.
After the radio dies, I hear only my watch tick.

I find some batteries I forgot were stored away.
Now to hear what the news had to say.
Car accidents, fires, people are stranded.
Voices talk of the streets and says they’ll be sanded.
Yet still voices beg, pleading to all,
Stay at home safe and warm. Don’t get out at all.
It’s dangerous to be exposed to this degree of cold.
Don’t try to be a hero. It kills young and old.

Now it’s hypothermia the voices start to teach.
How many homes and people will they reach?
Finally, it clears a little. The streets start to melt.
God is saying it’s okay now. Here’s the sun to help.
Temperatures rise again. How good it feels to be warm.
Now it’s off to the store. I fight within the swarm.
I see the shelves start to bare, then start heading back,
And in the empty parking lots I see a lot of tracks.

People had been playing in the snow with their trucks.
Doughnut marks and sliding streaks showed, they played without getting stuck.
Oh Hallelujah! The water’s on and the power is too.
I can take a nice hot shower… oooooooh!
My freshly dryer dried towel and warm pair of jeans.
And oh yes, how good it feels just to be clean.
Cooking something warm to eat, I lean over the stove.
Now this smells good to my thawed out nose!

I finally get to watch the news and see how bad it is.
Boy, was this worth all the school I have missed?
No, not at all. The world has fallen apart.
Let’s go back to school before things get too hard.
At least we have heat at school and the streets are good to go.
I’d much rather sit in class, than to be a prisoner to snow.
Many people are in tragedy just to feel the cold.
When it come to education over tragedy, Hey, I’m sold!!

1993 Written by Gail Brookshire
(published in Expressions, Jan.31, 1994 Issue, Front page-page 2)
(by the grace of God)