Being In My Place Poem by Dr. Lalita Smith

</></>In conflict and controversy, I have found love.
Among thorns and thistles, compassion blooms
as a garden all around me.

During hardship and trials, I find the grace to grow
as I learn to accept the fact that change is inevitable.
It is like a river that flows unnstoppable, leading me
down its winding path to a destination today un-definable, yet mine.

In transition, I let go of yesterday, and those things that can no longer
be a reality, to embrace the tomorrow's that flicker before me like a candle,
promising me less sorrow. Though each day differs drastically from the last,
each adds up to reflect the dawning of a brighter future.

So I choose to look ahead, to raise my head up high in spite
of the whispers of persecution that ring loudly in my ears;
knowing that faith and courage are constant, faithful guardians
of my eternal plight; holy warriors who will never fail to guide me sure -
encouraging me to fight back tears, fatigue, worry and fear,
to embrace the changing tomorrow's that beckon me out of who
I thought I was, into the strong, bold, beautiful and determined
success that I must become.

Why must I force my way into a place that is foreign soil to my soul?
Why must I forge ahead when all compadres' who once walked by
my side, have found a path leading from me?
Why must I alone face each tomorrow, as though it were my last
chance to make an indelible mark on this generation?

You know, don't you; that the importance of fulfilling destiny means,
my being in my place, allows you to be in yours!
Yeah, that's how it is!

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(Inspiration for this piece was my divorce transition in 1999, after 17 years
of marriage. It was written in my clothing boutique naned, 'Lalita's Closet'
located in Long Beach, CA)