I am 35 years old. I was born and raised in San Francisco. I received my BA in English and Political Science at UC Berkeley. I lived in New York a few years ago. I was active in the arts scene in New York and hope to some day get an MFA in Poetry now that I am back home in California. I have traveled most of Western Europe and have studied abroad in Lyon, France. I am an avid traveler. My inspiration comes from my Lord, Jesus Christ.

This blog is dedicated to all of my friends and family who have been there through thick and thin and who remind me all the time how much I am loved and cared for.

In honor of National Poetry month, I wanted to create this blog. I also want to challenge myself to post one poem a day. I am starting at the very beginning. This is one of the first poems I ever wrote. I was 16 and it went on to be a semi-finalist in a national poetry contest. I hope you enjoy this poem.

Have You Ever

by: Diana Marie Smith

Have you ever really been in love-
Have you ever felt as free as a dove?

Have you ever wished upon a star
That what you're looking for isn't far?

Have you ever wondered why you're here,
Yet eventually you will disappear.

Have you ever truly felt pain-
Do you wish for sunshine without rain?

Life is hard, but in the end,
You will find that special friend

Do you wonder what really lasts forever,
I do, and I ask you, have you ever?

Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

I wrote this poem a few years ago after I felt an outpuring of love and support from the special women in my life. I am so blessed to have such wonderful women as my friends and family. This poem is for all women who should never forget how wonderful they truly are.

Woman

 

Woman carries the weight of the world with a smile on her face

As she has been shown grace, and in her abounds much beauty

 

She is comfort and kindness and all that is good

She's as fierce as a tiger, while being as gentle as a lamb

 

A woman loves with all her heart and all her soul

A woman hurts and feels all human pain

 

We all came into the world through woman

Woman bears kings as well as paupers, and she can bear you

 

You know her as your mother, your sister or your friend

Yet you still ask who is woman

 

To know woman is to know hope

Woman brings hope into the world through her impenetrable spirit

 

The eyes of a woman may reveal wisdom

But it is the eyes of her heart that allows her to see God

 

God has never created a lovelier creature

Than that one we have come to know as WOMAN.

Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

One of the reasons I am drawn to poetry is because of its brevity. Most poems tend to be on the shorter side and with my short attention span that works out well for me. Take the Haiku for example. Simply 3 lines, 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the last line. Here is a Haiku that I wrote last year.

Haiku

 

Sun shines on dark land

 

Birds fly away, humans stay

 

For fear of unknown.

                                                           

                                                                                        Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

Every poet should write a poem in the format like the one below. Hope this helps you learn more about me. Enjoy!.

Diana Marie Smith

 

Divine inspiration gets me through the day.

I am more than what you see.

Able to do much

Never afraid to take a chance

Always on the run or on the go.

 

Makes time for the ones I love.

Afraid of the dark and the unknown.

Ready to come to the aide of a friend.

I am a believer and a dreamer.

Every day is new and exciting to me.

 

Sometimes I cry, but mostly I laugh.

Memories make me who I am.

I want people to stop judging and start loving more.

The Lord is my provider and I have want of nothing.

His love is too great for me to comprehend.

                                                                                  Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

A week ago, on April 26 (Shakespeare's alleged birthday) I went to a Shakespeare birthday marathon. I could only stay 2 hours. Anyway, I wrote this "Sonnet" a few years back, so here's to you Shakespeare. The format of a sonnet by the way is in the rhyme scheme ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, with the last 2 lines being a rhyming couplet. Every Sonnet has 14 lines.

From Wikipedia:

"Shakespeare's sonnets, or simply The Sonnets, is a collection of poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare that deal with such themes as love, beauty, politics, and mortality. They were probably written over a period of several years. All 154 poems appeared in a 1609 collection, entitled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS, comprising 152 previously unpublished sonnets and two (numbers 138 and 144) that had previously been published in a 1599 miscellany entitled The Passionate Pilgrim."

Sonnet 155

 

The bar you set centuries ago

Is still what poets of today strive to raise.

I, like them, find myself going to and fro

Unable to come up with that perfect phrase.

We all want to be like you,

To write like you and to achieve a place in history.

It's your stories that help us through

This life that is such a mystery.

Will this sonnet receive even one-tenth the fame of "Shall I compare thee…"

Oh, if only someone from this time could do what you did for your time and beyond.

Was it your works that set you free?

I wonder what thing in life of which you were most fond.

Shakespeare, tomorrow has come and we are still here,

I hope this sonnet lives on when I disappear.

Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

So, I write about the guys in my life and about love and relationships. I wrote this at the end of a relationship with an ex whom I had dated about 8 months. We ended on good terms, but I opted not to stay in touch. It wasn't a good relationship at the end and the temptation to lean on each other would be there. He knows who he is and he made New York a bit more fun and we'll always have that special 4th of July.

YOU

 

You weren’t the one

But you were fun

 

You took an interest and seemed to care

Yet when I really needed you, you just weren’t there

 

So I moved on and to another

I wish you well my brother

 

Thanks for the memories and the fun times

I hope you learn that it’s ok if a poem has no rhymes

 

Maybe in time we can be friends

Or maybe it’s better if it all just ends

 

In the end it’s up to you

You know where to find me and what to do.

Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

So, this poem is not in spanish nor has it anything to do with cinco de mayo, but I hope you enjoy it anyway and I hope you can see the reverence and appreciation I have for my poetry professor. I am not a teacher in case you are wondering, it's just a story.

Teacher

 

Today we are going to study the poet Robert-

'Frost' came a loud shout from the back of the room.

'No, not Robert Frost' I snapped back.

'Johnny, raise your hand before you speak.'

A hand shot up, wailing, 'Oh, oh!'

'Yes Mary, what is it?'

'We will study Robert Lowell, oh how I love "For the Union Dead.'"

'No Mary, not Robert Lowell. We will study Robert-'

'Teacher, teacher!'

'Yes Peter, he was my teacher.'

'But teacher, I have to go to the bathroom.'

'Oh, go on Peter.'

Without hesitation, for fear of another interruption,

I stated matter-of-factly, 'Robert Hass.'

I looked around the room, those eighth grade eyes on me and my every word.

'Today we are going to study the poet Robert Hass.'

Johnny's hand shot up immediately after I spoke.

'Who is Robert Hass?'

 

The question resounded in my mind over and over.

'Well, who is Robert Hass,' I thought to myself.

He's a poet, a professor; no, those are too generic.

He's a true teacher- What does that mean?

I mean he really loves teaching, he loves to teach,

But best of all he loves his students.

His eyes light up when someone sees something, and that meant something to that Someone who saw that something.

 

My interior monologue went on until I was brought out of my mind,

Back to my class.

Johnny had shouted, 'So teacher who's this Robert Hass?'

 

So, I began to tell them a story about a young girl.

Her second year in college at Cal Berkeley she took American Poetry.

And she had this professor for whom she had great admiration.

He cared, he listened, he wanted to help.

And he did help. He got her to read poets that affected her life.

She may have never read them.

The professor got her to write poetry again, a requirement in the class.

Most importantly, the professor gave her the idea of becoming a teacher.

She wanted to give back to others what her professor had given to her.

 

'And so class, that is why I am here today, as your teacher.

I was that young college girl and,

Robert Hass was that professor of American Poetry that year.

That's who Robert Hass is.

Open your books to page 35.'

Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

So, I had a dear friend and mentor who passed away in 2004. She was only 40 and left behind three beautiful children, the oldest a daughter whose birthday is today. I hope you enjoy this poem.

Three

 

Three names- Carrie Marie Giorgi

Three kids- Alyssa, Johnny and Joshie

But you cannot be defined by a name or a number.

You were kind, you were sweet, you were loving and strong.

You brought sunshine to a dark world.

I saw God in you.

You made me feel loved and cared for- you showed me how a mom should be.

It was a short life, but a good life.

I can't wait to see you again and I hope you can be proud of me when I get there.

I miss your guidance, I miss your strength and energy, mainly I miss you.

It hurts to know you are not here.

I just hope you know that your kids are ok. They miss you as much as I do.

But they are ok. They are surviving and even thriving. You would be proud of them.

As the Wizard of Oz tells us, you had a good life because what mattered was not how much you loved, but how much you were loved by others. I love you Carrie.

See you soon.

 

Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

That phrase is funny to me. I am going to Chicago tomorrow and won't be back until Sunday, but I will post another poem that will be worth the wait and I will give a shout out to the mom's for Mother's Day. Enjoy this poem. Yes, it's blantantly spiritual, but I am Christian after all.

Shame

 

Born into Shame

Brought out of Shame

 

Once ashamed

Now I live shamelessly

 

The world's Shame was put onto One

The One who took it all upon Himself

 

It was only in that moment when all Shame

My Shame was brought out and banished

 

I did not have to be scorned or purged or pierced

I only have to love and accept that I am no longer bound by

SHAME

Copyright ©2009 Diana Marie Smith

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