Beneath Your Smile

I wish I took the time,
To look beneath your smile,
But I was so shy during that while.
Your laughter hid a pain so deep,
That only you could kmnow.
Behind the mask of a clown,
Your feelings never showed.
I wish that I could know you now,
Since I am not afraid,
To be the one and only me,
My single destiny.
If I could show you my life now,
And take you back to then.
Would you have all the hope you need,
To want to live again?
You died so young, I only pray,
That you are with the Lord today.
When I look back, I only see,
Your smile burns in my memory.

What Am I Supposed To Be?

My name may not be important to this world.
I may never see the sunlight or starlit skies.
I will not be held in my mothers arms as she rocks me to sleep.


Christmas Carols will only be sung with angels,
there will be no school plays or carnivals;
the rush of a rollercoaster, the taste of cotton candy-
all things that children take for granted cannot be mine.

This world did not want me. Perhaps my parents were not ready
or able to provide a home. Perhaps they never would have
realized the love I would have brought them. I would
have endured any hardship in life, but this rejection is too much to bear.

Why? Why do parents only see their own concerns? I was invisible.
I could not speak for myself, but in a whisper. They argue
so loudly about the burdens already in their lives.
They could not hear my soft voice crying,
"please...please do not end my life before it begins."

I wanted to take a breathe of life and cry with the
joy of being alive. I wanted to be loved and cared for
in this earthly life. I wanted to dance, laugh, and sing.

My Heavenly Father comforts me. I have so much potential.
He assures me that I have the intelligence and creativity,
from the pattern of my genes, to accomplish much in life.
I could have been a doctor who found a cure for a disease,
or a leader who brought peace. Not given a chance, the world
will never know what I may have done.

I know this poetic piece of prose speaks from the unborn child's point of view, but abortion also affects women and daughters who have been raped and not given a choice with their bodies....while men are not affected.


Published in the Spring 1994 Poetic Eloquence
by Sharon Tulley

“Share the Dance”
by Sharon Tulley

Wait-
think it over he said.
Without you in my life,
Those are tears- I don’t want to shed.
I know our life’s not perfect,
There are no guarantees.
Just don’t give up on me,
Or turn your pretty eyes away-
Please?

I looked him in the eyes,
And took a long, deep breath.
“There’s things you do not understand,
We were doomed the day we met.”
His look of disbelief,
The way he hung his head-
He looked like he had given in,
But this is what he said.

Chorus:
Beginnings are misleading,
They don’t reflect the heart.
Sometimes you think it’s ending,
But that’s only the start.

I rolled my eyes a moment,
But the words ran through my mind.
How could the man who was so cruel,
Be suddenly so kind?

He put his hand out slowly,
Then gently touched my face,
And in his eyes I saw,
Such love- my heart could not erase.

Chorus:
Beginnings are misleading,
They don’t reflect the heart.
Sometimes you think it’s ending,
But that’s only the start.

Please open up your heart,
And give me one more chance.
This life is but a shadow-
Without you to share the dance.

Chorus:
Beginnings are misleading,
They don’t reflect the heart.
Sometimes you think it’s ending,
But that’s only the start.