A Testimony to a Life and Other Poems

By Marchell Dyon

A Testimony to a Life

Now you can recognize your treasures from heaven
Soaring with tattered wings; a guardian you have been.
On this day, together let us sing.

Let us speak of you with velvet voices.
Harmoniously, praise your life of few choices.
So many ways to be a woman form from clay

With it the house you built you have become
A cornerstone for others to rise upon. 
If souls were ships you have been an anchor to all

Oh, the waves we swam but still you brought us to shore.
Never did you let us drown or did you seek fanfare or favor.
To those you sheltered you were a strong house

To so many you offered a roof in time of storms.
Affectionately packed under your roof: love was the norm.
And you gave up your room, leaving you

minimal breathing space. You gave up your bed. 
So, others felt comfort assured with pillows for their heads.
You helped instead of living it up

Always you gave us the full pie.
We took for granted that this confection wasn’t owed to us.
Never did you seek jewels or pearls

Instead, you left a mark that made others’ world.
Even when against you, hardships rallied
Against all odds you were victorious without keeping score or tally

You made a way with a spirit of gold.
Your love will never tarnish. It’s a ray of light to behold.
May your heart lead you like thunder onward so bold….  

Requiem

Let say,
The groundhog was your spiritual animal.
And like him, finally from under
Winter’s dread, you have awakened.

Without a shadow to hinder you
To turn back to that old life
You once followed, you have risen from
That place of nothingness and sorrow.

From incarcerated idiocy
You’ve found long lasting tranquility.

You’ve emotionally grown from
All the rebellion you have shown.

A youth full of unholy schemes.
Let it all pass by you.
You can make it out here
You have knowledge now
And you have discovered it was no dream.

Let’s Say,
The years spent behind bars that kept
You lost in time—
Like a ghost that fades are all your crimes… 

All slates are clean—
All debts are now paid.
The ones you owed society.
No longer will be taken to the grave.

Now you look down from
This morning lit peak
A place you were so afraid
You would never reach

Here you stand a sage man
The one that left childish things behind
You’ve succeeded where others fail
And against all chains you have prevail

Over those that identify you as only a number.
You have earned again your name. Look at all in
Only a few years you have gained!

Nothing wasted all was just
A learning curve,
May you have the happiness
Now well deserved.

See now the rising sun.
With 
All its glory
With free eyes see beyond

This once TRACK. You Know now,
Love of family doesn’t crack.

To the horizon keep your soul set
Still, you are not finished yet.

For freedom is now
A reality not just a yearning
You are ready now,
Compass in a new journey….

A Black boy dreaming

Star child
Were you a gift from heaven?
The sun is shining
But you are dining still on daydreams aglow
I watch you with waken eyes
Do you need more time
To explore castle clouds in the sky
Or have you been blest with wings
Don’t you know
Dreams are not the only place you can fly
In this world you can become a star
To everyone around you, you can burn bright
And lead the way with your inner light
No more will I indulge, now I must get you up
And join the world bring your dreams to every waking hour
And make what are your dreams into
the real world by the work of your heart and inner power
dream on my miracle child

be of a greater joy
be Blest my baby boy!

An Ode To The Bridegroom

Thankfully,

Your fury for this unfair biosphere
That lonely charade
Of your rhythmic steps in this world
Courageous steps
An infantry soldier left to battle on his own
You have turned the war in you
Back to where it belongs
Out there is the air
Air you once breathed
From girl to girl: love would not seed
A lifetime of winters’ frost
You have held strong your petals
Till the sun brought summer renewed
Not all the storms in you may be settled
But this you got right
To handfast in love with the taking of a wife  

For My Brothers Upon The Rainbow

Now that the struggles don’t seem that bad
Even though your time on this earth
Wasn’t an easy one to have had

Now the struggles are all victories bittersweet
The triumphs of a boy born
With and extra bounce to his rhythmic feet

Not every day brought you glory
But this is not the end
But the middle of your story

Your eyes have seen many things
And some you’ve laid your hands in success
Some will stay and advance only in your dreams

You have brought with you the tears of the boy
Once unsure of his shoulders
now crown with joy

To look back on, now that you have grown older
Even though time has brought you here
Safe and sound

Now the struggles don’t seem too sad
Look at all you have achieved
By all heavenly measure that ain’t half bad….

To Madison

You are brave like petals opening to the sun
Shine on, shine on, shine on…
You are brave but it’s okay to be a little scared
Remember your good heart and the light that glows there
And— Shine on, shine on, shine on…
You are special, one of a kind.
There is none like you
No matter how far you go
Remember like a flower you will grow.
And— shine on, shine on, shine on…
Now that you are walking school halls on your own
Know with our love you walk,
And you will never walk alone.
And—shine on, shine on, shine on…
You are brave because you try
You are like the stars when they light the sky
And—shine on, shine on, shine on…
You are beautiful, a jewel to know.
When nervous take a deep breath
And this is how you will go.
You will— shine on, shine on, shine on….

Once Our Mother Dreamed Of The Ocean

Once, our mother was a washing-woman dreaming.
Once, her dreams bellowed like clouds,
Like soap bubbles carried in the air

Fluffy sapphire and white wishes—
Ascending like souls,
Like she imagined— colored sails should be.

Like the cotton sheets the laundry taken in
Of these things she knew well.
She hung them none her own

To bleached dry in the sun—
Those rainbow wrinkled sheets
When she lay them starched and ironed.

Her muscles strengthen her task far from being done.
She folds them.
She carries them back to where they belong.

The ocean air, the air she breathed.
In her mind from this toil, she was freed.
Always, mother’s eyes were to the horizon.

Our mother believed; she could save
For that far off distant
Somewhere, somehow, someday,

One way or another
Obligations weighed her down.
Never did, she know the joy of waves

Or feel its spray upon her face.
None of these wonders in her life
Did she experience but so craved.

On this day, through her daughters
She would succeed. In the most humbled way
We take her ashes there.

As her souls’ footprints washes
And walks along the beach. Like the tide to the shore
Never will her love be out of reach…

As the sun sets, we watch the sky: colors bleeding.
Once, our mother was, a washing woman dreaming.