The Phoenix Sings

Poetry has been a way of expressing the inner feelings I''ve had about my unusual life. I was disfigured as an infant by a burning kerosene lamp, resulting in years of reconstructive surgery and a life apart from my family, being adopted by cousins. I feel like the phoenix that rises from the flames. The Stare What hurts one so about a stare.. The look that puts one on a pin, That stabs your heart without a care So curious lust is satisfied With rape of eyes that probes each pore, Intruding with relentlessness, The questioning that crawls like worms Over every inch of skin? You want to run away and hide; Instead you sit there, humbly, sore, Aching with defenselessness. It''s you the victim, you who squirms, Yours the deficiency, the sin. The animal instincts serve us yet, The pecking order still is here. The rational mind makes us forget How thin indeed the polite veneer. Anniversary Song These were the happiest years I''ve lived, The seven we''ve been together. The storms were few And in between Was a rainbow of life, Every hue Of fun and joy and calm delight... So many moments I know not whether I could choose the best For comparison would beggar The richness and warmth of all the rest. We''ve drunk from a cup so full That few there are that know its measure. These poems reflect my inner life, its moments of inspiration and occasional despair "but of such is life in its fullest measure." (quote from "Realization").