A PICTURE (is worth) A THOUSAND WORDS (more or less)

<p>As a small child age eleven I was offered five dollars to memorize<br />Rudyard Kipling’s poem “IF”.<br />At that time poetry was just a collection of words<br />on a page and the money was more important.<br />Life is full of ups and downs and keeping you head held high may make<br />you look and feel taller but it won’t alter your mood.<br />You can always try looking on the bright side but staring through a pin hole to prevent light blindness won’t make you happy either.<br />If you are depressed or sad it is going to take a lot more to raise your spirits<br />than old adages and overly familiar clichés about<br />“rainbows and pots of gold” or “clouds and silver linings”<br />or “the sun coming out tomorrow”.<br />After having raised two children on my own I have come to realize<br />that everyone has personal issues that they wrestle with.<br />As parents we try to help our children grow beyond us.<br />We try to protect them from the very life they are<br />suppose to live and experience on their own.<br />We must find our own strength and directions.<br />It is very easy to lose contact with the ordinary realities of life.<br />As individuals it is up to us to make sense of the<br />world around us the world we live in.<br />The right poem whether old or new can help us relax gain a<br />new perspective find comfort or just celebrate the life we have<br />the life we so often take for granted.<br />In doing so there is one cliché or old adage that holds its truth<br />“A picture is worth a thousand words”.<br />Over the years I have come to realize that words come alive<br />and personify the power and passion of the poet.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>