Guest Poets

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome a very special person to my site and to my poetry page, Patricia Ford's granddaughter Michelle Vander Sluis. For those who know Pat, she is an amazing person, and an even more amazing poet. Her poems are so beautiful and they take my breath away. You can read Pat's work on my Gifted Poets Page. I feel very honored to be able to display her work on my site and I am very happy to have her granddaughter's work as well. Michelle's poem reminds me of my earlier poems when I also was a teenager and didn't know who I was and where I was going in my life. I would like to thank Pat and Michelle for wanting their poetry displayed among mine. I hope to display more in the future! Thanks Pat! Thanks Michelle!

HELLO, HOW DO YOU FEEL? Hello: My name is Michelle Vander Sluis. I was 16 years old when I wrote this poem. It was a time in my life when I didn’t know what or who I was. Even now that I am a little older, I still don’t know who I am. This poem was written in my room while I was sitting on my bed. I was actually grounded – LOL! I graduated High School in the year 2000. In the near future, I will be going back to school to start preparing for my career of choice – psychology. I want to counsel young people. I feel I can relate to them, their problems and confusion since I have so recently been there. So, all you young girls or boys out there, I hope you read this poem and get as much out of it as I did when I wrote it. Thanks for taking the time. . . . I feel like a baby, wanting to cry. I feel like a cat, way too shy. I feel like a girl who wants one last kiss. I feel like a mother when it’s my baby I miss. I feel like a flower, waiting to bloom. I feel like a bomb, ready to go ka-boom! I feel like a pillowcase, oh so used. I feel like a dropped apple, all battered and bruised. I may feel this way, but I know what I am…. A teenager all confused! How about you? Michelle J. Vander Sluis January 28, 1998

I would like to welcome another very special person to my web site, Loretta Pray! She is not only a friend to my younger son Chris, but to myself as well! I have grown to love her as if she were my own daughter. We converse on a daily basis on chat and also on the phone and have found her to be a young person so full of life, with high expectations of herself. She is very bright, bubbly, and is a caring and devoted daughter and sister to her mother who has Multiple Schlerosis and her brother who is 33 years old and developmentally handicapped, she cares for both of them daily. I think that you will find her poetry not too much different from my own when I was her age (15). Below, you will find five of her poems, enjoy reading them! As time goes on we wonder Why has god put me here Why hasn't he taken me away yet When will he take me Sometimes I wish I wish I could fly Fly away Far from here Here The place called home Home Home My home What home Is a home a place where you live Or is it the place where you feel comfortable This is not my home This is the place where my name is known But nobody cares Loretta, Oh yeah I know her Home is not a place Home is where the heart is My heart is not here My heart is trapped Not free I am trapped Locked up so tight No room for my heart or me No room to breathe No room for me Should I leave Is it my time to leave I wish I could fly Far away from here Go Wild Free Fly far from here Here The place called home, but is not my home. Alone Being miserable Counting the minutes Days without him alone Everybody says move on go Frustrated not knowing what to do Giving is so hard when you're alone Hiding my face that is covered in tears Incredible surges of pain and heart break ripping apart Just here wishing I could prove my love for him Keeping hope that one day we will be together again forever Loving him and not being able to be with him hurts deep Mourning a love that once was, but has gotten lost is coldly miserable Never before have I felt such an awful pain over someone, a true love Only being with him takes away my regrets, my anger, and brings out my love Praying every night for him to come back so we cold be together and love him Quivering at the thought of losing him completely makes me cry, ache, and hurt all over constantly Regretting everything that I have done wrong, wishing I was in his loving arms at this very second Slowly, it feels as though he is slipping away and I am trying to reach him, but can't Though I hope he will forgive me and come back and once again hold me in his tender arms Untamed is his heart that I wish was mine, Understanding how he feels, trying to show my love for him Vibrantly shining is my heart and yet he fails to see it. What can I do to make him see my love? Why can't he understand? Why aren't we together? Why doesn't he love me? I wish he could see me waiting. X-pecially, waiting for him to see me. Hopefully it will be soon. Being miserable without him. I have him held close to my heart. Yearning for his hugs, his touch, his compassion. Wishing he was mine. Oh what i would give for him to be mine and only mine. Zippo, that's what I get. No matter how hard I wish and pray that he is mine again someday it will always be up to him. "Who Am I?" Confused Stuck in between Trying to figure out Who I am Am I a little girl Am I a woman What am I Not knowing how to act Trying to be my own person Trying to be how everyone says I'm supposed to be Not knowing who to believe Things are changing Everywhere Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring Season's... People... Life... Finding my way Through this long path set out for me Every corner Every turn The slightest move changes Everything Confused Stuck in between Trying to figure out Who I am "Thankful" Being thankful Thankful for What Thankful for My mommy Who is my Inspiration Thankful for My friends Who are Always there for me Especially in times of Sadness Thankful I am thankful for Everything and Everybody in my Life "?" Sitting Staring at the Stars Wishing we were together alongside each other Side by side Holding each other I know he cares Why doesn't he show it Tears streaming down my face And yet he says not a word Dreaming dreams He's always there Reality hits He's not there Seeing him He's mean and unjust Insecure about feelings Feelings never felt before Not sure what to do or say I am a wreck Wishing, hoping, praying Figuring out who and what I am Figuring out feelings for him Feelings that are mutual Wanting each other But feelings interfere SONG PLAYING: "CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT"