Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952

A Poem For Carol

(May She Always Wear Red Ribbons)

When I was very little

though its still true today

there were no sidewalks in lincoln heights

and the home we had on jackson street

was right next to a bus stop and a sewer

which didn’t really ever become offensive

but one day from the sewer a little kitten

with one eye gone

came crawling out

though she never really came into our

yard but just

sort of hung by to watch folk

my sister who was always softhearted but able

to act effectively started taking milk

out to her while our father would only say

don’t bring him home and everyday

after school I would rush home to see if she was

still there and if gary had fed her but I could never

bring myself to go near her

she was so loving

and so hurt and so singularly beautiful and

I knew

I had nothing to give that would replace her one gone eye

and if I named her which I

didn’t I’m sure

I would have called her carol.

- Nikki Giovanni